Project Mumbai to Shanghai - Phase 1

It has mainly being the lure of documentary filmmakers and globe-trotting journalists aiming to showcase the hollow claims of economic development in India.But Asia's largest slum should soon be buzzing with real estate magnets and construction engineers as the much hyped,much maligned "Dharavi Redevelopment Project" has finally got off the ground. The Maharashtra government, on Wednesday, decided to float global tenders in 16 different countries for the same by next month.

The finance for this 10,000 crore mega project will come in a novel way.At the center of it all,lies the decision of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to double floor space index (FSI) in Mumbai’s swanky business district of Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) thereby raking in Rs 25,000 crore for the city.FSI decides how much development can take place on an empty plot. This means if the FSI is one, then 100 sq ft can be built on a plot of the same size. For BKC, the MMRDA hiked the FSI to four on March 13, which will fuel vertical growth in the BKC. The money thus generated could also provide the much-needed financial support for Mumbai’s other key infrastructure projects such as the Metro Rail,Mithi river cleansing project, Marine Drive refurbishment project, the Western Freeway sea link project etc.

Redevelopment of Dharavi would clear a blot on the city's face and create some truly wold class infrastructure in our own backyard.Along with the residential and industrial parks,Rs 1,800 crore worth of world-class amenities will be developed free for the city-hospitals, schools, parks and fire stations.More than 12 acres are reserved for open spaces and playgrounds,providing the chocking city with some much needed breathing space.Creating an entire township will also solve the problems that existed with previous schemes of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) , which merely replaced horizontal slums with vertical slums.

The doing away of the norm of minimum consent was the first commendable step in direction of clearing this project.Earlier consent of 60% of the residents was necessary for any slum re-development project to take place.Whether such consent actually came for the residents themselves was dubious and various nefarious organizations/politicians made hay.An approval of such a kind was especially not feasible when the project-scope was as wide as Dharavi.

The major bone of contention is obviously the rehabilitation of the nearly 56,000 families in 225 sq.foot flats built in 7-storey buildings.I doubt if they can afford the high-rise maintenance charges.They will then simply rent/sell these flats and go and build similar shanties somewhere else,thereby negating the very reason for this project itself.The current landlords and Dons of Dharavi will profit, and the real people will suffer.If the Government can give multiple tax concessions to the developers of SEZs, surely it can afford to waive of maintenance charges for these residents,say for an initial period of 5-10 years.

Identifying who is eligible for rehabilitation is a never-ending headache. Expect 1000 s of litigations to litter the court on this matter.

Also only 225 sq.foot is available free of cost,the residents will have to shell out at the current market rates for the extra space.That would be almost impossible for many without some sort of loan schemes or EMI options at affordable rates of interests provided by the Government.

Dharavi is the home of many small and large scale industrial enterprises like pottery and leather goods employing a mainly unskilled workforce. Already, the proposed township earmarks a plot for a branch of the National Institute of Design, to offer advice and direction to Dharavi’s leather and pottery industries. Wonderful. But, how is the government planning to shift these to 225 sq.foot flats into 7-storey buildings ? Especially, as the current owners occupy a land exceeding 225 sq.foot and are likely to be unable to pay the extra money for the additional space. Unless these affected industries are identified and aided, this redevelopment will prove to be the death nail for the families of these small-scale industries owners and especially those of the labor which depends on them for their livelihood.

Dont get me wrong, I'm 100% for the re-developemnt project .Its just that the obstacles to any such major re-shuffle are always human , never economic.What seems trivial at first,developes into an insurmountable obstacle later on.If the Government rushes head-first into this project,underestimating these major stumbling blocks ,it is sure to be hounded by litigations and protest rallies.The tender will remain nothing more than a file on a table and never see the light of day.

For facts and figures about the project,visit the SRA website.