MUMBAI: The project to rehabilitate residents of Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia, has hit the first major land acquisition milestone in the form of 27.6 acres from the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) of the 45 acres required. The land is to be used to construct state-of-the-art modern housing and recreation facilities for railway employees as well as rehabilitation apartments for holders of eligible tenements in Dharavi.
The RLDA handed over land parcels totalling 27.6 acres, including scrapyard land near Mahim railway station, to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) on March 13, show documents.
The DRP is a nodal agency of the state govt to execute the project spread across 600 acres of land, which is home to nearly 12 lakh people.
In a letter written to deputy chief engineer, DRP, on March 13, deputy general manager, RLDA, Sanjeev Jain said the revised layout plan for development had been “examined and agreed by railways with certain observations”. The letter said: “Vacant/open land, encumbered area under slums and part land under abandoned buildings at the site (other than existing railway operational area and existing railway facilities and amenities), are scheduled to be handed over on 12.03.24 post noon.”
A DRP official confirmed receiving possession of the land, with the remainder of it to be received soon.
The complex and Dharavi township is to be designed by architect Hafeez Contractor. “The DRP has assured the railways that it will build the entire complex spread across around one million square feet in three years after receiving the commencement certificate,” a railway official said.
The complex includes four multi-storey apartment blocks, of which three will be of 821 flats on 36 floors with modern amenities, a sport-cum-recreation complex, and a contemporary admin building.
The DRP paid Rs 1,000 crore to the railways for the land. Another Rs 2,800 crore will be handed over after 17 years by way of minimum revenue sharing from the proceeds of Dharavi redevelopment.
The 27.6 acres handed over includes 15 acres of encroached land with 5,000 tenements. In Nov 2022, the Adani group won the bid to redevelop Dharavi with an initial equity investment of Rs 5,069 crore. In 2019, the state govt reached a consensus with the Union ministry for railways over the handover of over 45 acres. This was signed as a definitive agreement and executed on Oct 18, 2022, after Eknath Shinde became the chief minister.
