Final attempt to redevelop Dharavi, plans to bring it under one cluster

The government is making a final attempt to bring the Dharavi Redevelopment plan on track. The attempt is to bring the whole of Dharavi under one cluster and redevelop it. Currently, there are five sectors, which were earlier divided into nearly 13 sub-clusters. Now, according to senior government officials, the new proposal is to have only one cluster in Dharavi to deal everything. This doesn't include sector V, which is being redeveloped by MHADA's Mumbai board.

Dharavi is the biggest slum and the government has been trying to carry out an ambitious project of redeveloping it for almost a decade and half. However, except for a few buildings constructed by MHADA in sector V, there has been no progress.

The last tender which got three extensions, didn't receive a single bidder. To get the project going, the state government even planned to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to execute it. It will be on the lines of the BDD Chawl redevelopment project. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had made this announcement during his television programme, 'Mi Mukhyamantri Boltoy', in September.

According to SVR Srinivas, the CEO of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, the proposal of having one cluster for all of Dharavi is still at a planning stage.

A senior official said, "Having all of Dharavi uner one unit will aid in carrying out the redevelopment smoothly. The SPV will take care of the redevelopment. When Dharavi was divided into sectors, there were many problems — while some sectors had commercial outlets in large numbers, some had more residentials. A single unit will allow to see the whole of Dharavi as one cluster and dealing with these aspects will become easy."

There are around 55,000 families residing in Dharavi, who are eligible for new houses after the redevelopment. The entire redevelopment of Dharavi would cost around Rs 25,000 crore. The Fadnavis government, after coming to power, floated global tenders worth Rs 21,936 crore to redevelop it.

AN AMBITIOUS PLAN

• Currently, there are five sectors in Dharavi, which were earlier divided into nearly 13 sub-clusters. 
   
• According to senior government officials, the new proposal is to have only one cluster in Dharavi to deal with everything. 
   
• This, however, doesn’t include sector V, which is being redeveloped by MHADA’s Mumbai board. 
   
• Dharavi is the biggest slum and the government has been trying to carry out an ambitious project of redeveloping it for almost a decade and half.