With a few days left before the monsoon arrives, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan finally gave impetus to two major redevelopment projects that promise to significantly alter the face of the island city. One is the redevelopment of old and dilapidated cessed buildings and the other is the Dharavi revamp, a project that has been stuck for long. Old and dilapidated cessed buildings can now be redeveloped with a floor space index (FSI) of 3 and not just 2.5. The 3 FSI is for all new projects and can also be availed of in around 400 existing projects where work has not gone beyond the plinth level. The hike was first proposed in September 2009 following the state government’s decision to increase the minimum tenement size from 225 sq ft to 300 sq ft. There are 14,995 cessed buildings from Colaba to Mahim, with many in a dilapidated state. Sachin Ahir, minister of state for housing said, “The decision is expected to benefit 5 lakh families.” Chavan had earlier expressed concern about the mushrooming of pencil-thin structures on narrow, cessed plots because of the usage of higher FSI. The state has decided to introduce new norms for redevelopment to control heights. It has been decided that in cases where the height of the redeveloped building is more than nine times the width of the smaller side of the plot, clearance from the state’s high-rise panel will have to be sought. The panel will examine the structural safety of the building. T C Benjamin, principal secretary, urban development, said the panel would evaluate the building’s stability by taking into account the possibility of earthquake or fire. The ratio between the width of the plot’s smaller dimension and the building’s height is referred to as slenderness ratio. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a slenderness ratio of 1:9 (with height being 9) is desirable, Benjamin said. Until now, the state’s highrise panel reviewed only proposals for buildings over 70 m in height. The new norms for cessed buildings will add to the workload of the high-rise panel, which has already been accused by the developer lobby of delaying clearances. The FSI hike will be applicable to 14,995 cessed buildings, all of which were constructed prior to 1969. With the new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification already in force, even the 5,500-odd cessed buildings that fall in CRZ areas can now be redeveloped with 3 FSI. The chief minister has made the provision that developers will have to surrender a corpus for free maintenance of the redeveloped buildings for at least 10 years. He added that non-cessed buildings occupying 25% or less area on cessed plots can be included in the 3 FSI redevelopment plans. But these buildings too will have to have been built before 1969.
The stalled, multi-crore Dharavi makeover was put back on track with the CM allowing Mhada to redevelop one of the five sectors in the 212-hectare slum area. Mhada will develop Sector 5, which has 23 hectares and involves rehabilitating 9,387 families. Gautam Chatterjee, principal secretary, housing, said that based on Chavan’s instructions, a meeting will be held with Satish Gawai, officer on special duty, Dharavi Redevelopment Project Authority, and other officials for preparation of a detailed roadmap for redevelopment. Gavai is also vice-president and CEO of Mhada. Sachin Ahir, minister of state for housing, said a decision on the redevelopment of the remaining sectors was likely to be taken next week. Housing department sources said Mhada plans to use an FSI of 4 to redevelop the sector, which is located close to the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The authority plans to use 4.5 lakh sq m of built-up area from the total available 10.5 sq m for rehabilitation of slum dwellers, while the remaining will be available for Mhada’s consumption. With almost no land at its disposal currently for building affordable houses in Mumbai, the authority plans to use 50% of the land available for generating affordable houses. The remaining area could be sold as commercial space. Revenue from such sales would be used to cross-subsidize affordable housing across the city, officials said. Amarjit Manhas, chairman of Mhada’s Mumbai board, welcomed the move. He added that this would lead to the creation of 5,000 additional affordable homes.
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