MUMBAI: Nearly two years after the government instructed various state-run corporations to carry out slum redevelopment at 228 locations in collaboration with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), 181 projects have been abandoned due to minimal progress and feasibility issues.
Of the 77 proposed joint ventures, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now proceed with only 44, while the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) will complete 2 of its 24, and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will implement just 1 of its 5. The SRA will take over these projects under its cluster redevelopment scheme or through alternate plans as per the state government’s direction.
SRA CEO Mahindra Kalyankar, advocating for policy reforms, pointed out that many JV projects saw no advancement from the assigned agencies. “The feasibility of projects was lacking in numerous instances. Consequently, the JV framework has been dissolved, except for a few with BMC, Mhada, and MMRDA. The remainder are reverting to SRA for redevelopment, either as part of the new cluster scheme or other SRA initiatives, as determined by the state government. Only 47 schemes remain with JVs,” he stated.
Officials mentioned that certain JV projects overlapped with identified slum clusters. “Once these are backed by a high-powered committee established under the Additional Chief Secretary of Housing and subsequently approved by the state government, redevelopment will commence,” an official remarked.
In September 2024, the state government had tasked various agencies, including BMC, MMRDA, MSRDC, Mhada, MahaPreit, MIDC, and Cidco, to redevelop slums located on government land in partnership with the SRA. All 228 slum projects have been stalled for years, affecting approximately 2.2 lakh families residing on this land.
According to a government resolution (GR), state-run agencies were supposed to engage architects for each project, create detailed feasibility studies and planning proposals, conduct biometric surveys of residents, identify eligible families, provide temporary housing, and build rehabilitation structures. “However, there was no significant progress made by the JV partner agencies,” the GR noted.
