It’s now divide and redevelop Dharavi

To address concerns raised by residents and expedite the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), the state government is considering dividing the slum into 'sub-sectors' or 'clusters' defined by natural boundaries. It may discard plans being submitted by developers for each sector.

Dharavi has five sectors. Of these, redevelopment of the fifth spanning 23 hectares was assigned to MHADA last year. Detailed notifications for this have been issued over the months.

At a high-level meeting chaired by the chief secretary to get the Rs 15,000-crore DRP back on track, officials arrived at a conclusion that the state government should redevelop the slum one small portion of a sector at a time. The portions could be of 2-5 hectares each defined by natural boundaries or roads.

The officials felt this would expedite the development.

"The crucial concern that has to be addressed at the government level is the eligibility criteria for pre-housing. With actual numbers, developers will not be in a position to step into the proje"t," said a top government official.

He said the proposal for sub-sector planning had to be taken up and seemed the most feasible at this juncture.

On the eve of local civic body elections earlier this year, the government approved a policy that tenants who have started living in an eligible hutment after the official cut-off date will get free housing.

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