In January, residents of large pockets of Dharavi will get ‘family identity cards’ generated by Mashaal, the Pune-based organization that has been contracted to conduct the baseline socio-economic survey of the slum’s approximately 70,000 families. Government-issued ID cards will follow.

Other processes getting under way include discussions with various government agencies on amenities and land. While a 2-hectare plot owned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has now been promised as land for constructing transit tenements, the MHADA and BMC have also opened discussions on the redevelopment of several municipal properties inside the Dharavi notified area. These include tenanted properties, municipal staff quarters and lands leased by the BMC to various societies, all to be redeveloped under the Dharavi Redevelopment Project’s ‘urban renewal component’.

“The 4 FSI for the urban renewal component is to be shared as 1.72 for rehabilitation and 2.82 for the developers’ free sale component,” said a civic official. “And we expect that there will be surplus space generated even in the 1.72 FSI than currently owned by the BMC.”

What form this extra built-up space will take is now on the drawing board: The BMC’s wishlist mainly includes improved and larger staff quarters as well as some office space. “We have asked the BMC in what form they want these spaces to be constructed,” said Chatterjee.