Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has announced a major step towards creating a slum-free city in Mumbai. In a new decision, the government has issued an order that the consent of individual slum dwellers will no longer be required for the group redevelopment of slum clusters in the city.
Under the scheme, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) will serve as the nodal agency to execute “cluster redevelopment” projects on contiguous land parcels of at least 50 acres (approximately 20.25 hectares) where at least 51% of the area is occupied by slum dwellers or structures.
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The land may be owned by private parties, government bodies or semi-government institutions, and old hazardous buildings, chawls, rental tenements and properties under development cess can also be covered under the scheme.
The government has, for the first time, permitted the incorporation of central government-owned land in a state redevelopment initiative, “Land owned by the central government may also be included upon obtaining necessary permissions from concerned authorities,” the GR stated.
The GR further stated that land leased by the government or semi-government bodies can be included in the scheme, provided that rehabilitation is carried out in accordance with DCPR 2034 and compensation is paid to the respective authorities.
Significantly, the scheme can be implemented for structures falling under CRZ–I and II regulations. “Slums on CRZ I and II may be integrated, with in-situ or alternative rehabilitation permitted within a 5-km radius as per CRZ and DCPR norms,” said the GR.
According to the order, private developers may be appointed either through public-private partnership or through open tendering by the public agencies. If a developer already holds 40% or more area of the cluster site, they may be given priority to implement the scheme. Further, if there are existing multi-storey buildings on non-slum parts in the designated area, the developer will be responsible for obtaining their development rights.
A high-level committee will oversee the project approval process, with the ministerial Housing & Urban Development Department as the chair. The committee will include the Secretary of Housing, the Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SRA, and a representative of the public authority owning the land.
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