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In view of real estate prices in Dharavi—Rs 3,500 per sq ft for buildings that do not even face the main road, a figure certain to skyrocket once the DRP kicks off—this makes good business sense.

Yet, there are other words of caution and admonition. The state government-appointed fact-finding committee investigating the 26/7 deluge says the project proposes “too-intense” density of population: ‘’In no city in the world are densities of occupation as high...” reads the Madhavrao Chitale committee report, accepted in principle by the Deshmukh government.

Dharavi houses 700 people per hectare. Once flats for the open market are occupied and footfalls multiply at the malls, cricket museum and SEZ, that number will escalate rapidly. Litigations from private landowners, environmentalists’ concern over the FSI of 4 (the highest permissible in Mumbai) have only just begun to be expressed.

The SRA claims that all these concerns are being addressed carefully. Environmental impact assessment studies, one for each of the five sectors, will kick off soon.

All the transferable development rights (TDR, certificates that allow a holder to develop elsewhere to the north of a given plot) generated will be used within Dharavi itself, promises Mehta, detailed calculations have been done. “That’s why we urged the government to okay the FSI of 4,” he says. “We don’t want to spoil Andheri or Bandra with congestion due to TDR from Dharavi.”

If Dharavi’s redevelopment looks at rehabilitating approximately 52,000 slum-dwelling families over seven years, there’s one proximate example for some comparisons and tough lessons. Some 53,000 families are being shifted by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) under three mega-projects: The Mumbai Urban Transport Project, the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project and the Mithi River Development and Protection Plan. Already, 33,000 families have shifted, albeit many unwillingly, from shanties to rehabilitation “townships”.

Metropolitan Commissioner T Chandrashekhar says the challenges will be many: Interference from politicians who don’t want to lose their votebanks, resistance from shopkeepers who occupy prime locations and won’t move into buildings and the legal battles. At last count, the MMRDA was fighting nearly 200 separate cases filed after the launch of the three projects.

editor@expressindia.com

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