Here's some good news for slum dwellers staying in Mumbai. The size of homes that they are meant to get under the rehabilitation scheme will now get bigger. According to senior officials from Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), minimum rehabilitation entitlement in a slum redevelopment project increased to 27.88 sq mt (304 sq ft) carpet area, from the existing 25 sq mt (269 sq ft).
The dole for slum dwellers is a part of the new Development Plan 2034 which recently got an approval from the state government. A senior SRA official said, "The new modification applies to every new project and projects that have been approved but construction is yet to begin. The slum dwellers will get bigger homes under the new law."
The rule states, "In this Regulation 33(10) wherever carpet area of rehab tenements appears as 25 sq mt. it should be read as 27.88 sq mt."
Housing experts say that an increase in the size of slum rehabilitation homes will encourage the slum dwellers to move out of pigeon holes and move into a bigger and better house. However, this would mean developers will have to spend more, which will be indirectly passed on to the home buyer.
Pankaj Kapoor, MD of Liases Foras, a real estate research firm, says, "This is a populist move. The developers, who are spending more, will extract the escalated cost from the homebuyers."
Agreeing with Kapoor's statement, Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi, a housing expert says, "This is done is to meet international standards where a minimum tenement size fit for people to reside should be provided."
