Clusters of buildings spread over 26,321 sq m on the New Islam Mill compound at Parel will make way for nine high-rise buildings,20 to 50 storeys tall. The state government cleared the proposal for the island city on Tuesday,following a long lull since it approved the first cluster redevelopment project,by Dynamix Balwas Group. The Chief Minister has approved the New Islam Mill project,to be undertaken by Nish Developers. Developer Kailash Agarwal will demolish the existing structures,six four-storey buildings and 85 ground floor structures,and build the nine high-rises to replace the modest 80 sq ft homes of mill workers families in the defunct private mill. The project,estimated at Rs 700 crore,will also involve rehabilitation of the 735 tenants who have stayed on the plot for two generations. The mill was shut down in 1935. Since it has been converted into small paper warehouses, said Agarwal,who bought the property in 2006. He added that the project,which has got the consent of a majority of the tenants,will start immediately and be complete in four years. The DB Groups proposed project,on 5 acres of land at Turf Estate in Mahalaxmi,was so far the only other project to get government sanction,which came way back in October 2008. Several other proposals have been awaiting the state urban development departments approval for several months,though they had been long cleared by a high-powered committee for cluster projects. The committee has approved a total of 22 proposals in the five months since May 2008. The committee will study another 21 projects for the island city during its next meeting. These include projects at Chinchpokli,Nagpada,Mahalaxmi,Sandhurst Road,Cumballa Hill,Worli,Wadala and Tardeo. BMC officials state that several small-time developers are keen on taking up cluster projects,for which they will get a higher vertical limit if the redevelopment covers a minimum area of one acre in the island city. The developers get to make their profit by selling an area equal to 55 to 80 per cent of the area used for rehabilitating the tenants. Sixteen more cluster projects at various stages are in the pipeline with the BMC.
