Fadnavis unveils slum redevelopment plans for Mumbai

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Monday unveiled a slew of proposals designed to rid Mumbai of its sprawling slums, where 46 percent of the city's population lives.

"For the allround development of Mumbai, it is imperative to develop the slums which house 46 percent of the city's population. There are as many as 117 BMC and 96 MHADA slum rehabilitation projects which have been delayed. We will review all projects pending since three years and order them to be restarted," Fadnavis said.

He said five major charitable trusts in Mumbai hold large tracts of land, which have been encroached upon by slums, but nobody is coming forward to develop them.

The trusts are F.E. Dinshaw Trust, A.H. Wadia Trust, Jeejeebhoy Byramjee Trust, V.K. Lal Trust, and Sir Mohammed Yusuf Khot Trust, which own several scores of acres of land amongst them.

Fadnavis said notice would be issued to these trusts, and after completing the legal formalities, the government would initiate proceedings to acquire the land and develop the slums.

Referring to the proposal for redevelopment of central Mumbia's Dharavi - once holding the dubious distinction of Asia's largest slum - he said the government will examine how residences and commercial establishments there can be redeveloped simultaneously in the same location.

A plan being considered is to provide 300 square feet tenement free of cost and another 100 square feet on a no-profit, no-loss basis to the existing commercial premises there.

On the huge tracts of salt pan lands, mostly in eastern Mumbai, Fadnavis said he would take up the issue with the central government and after getting the clearances, initiate their development to boost the stock of affordable housing in the city with private participation.

Similarly, on the development of land in the vicinity of defence lands, he said that depending on the security requirements of ban on construction activity within 500 metres of such defence lands, projects would be examined and cleared on case by case basis.