Dharavi Redevelopment Project

[Vicky007]

In another lifetime (a few years back when i was into exports) i used to do rounds of various small units in Dharavi almost daily and know first hand about the mind-boggling business of various units.The breadth of the industries that they cover is from the very basic plastic and waste recycling to those catering to really bleeding edge hi-fashion stuff for designer labels. Mind you most of these units are un-registered which dont even posses sales tax registration number.The turnover/business of many is easily in double digit crores.

The various unique businesses i saw in the lanes (more of by-lanes) would in itself be a very big post.

[p2p4]

Vicky & CG .. your posts themselves are self explanatory and eye openers to many who think that area is a dump. Both of you have put down your first hand experiences to the fore . In particular , I like the way CG has put the pyramidal benefits of a 'subcontracting' system that works wonders in Dharavi.

By the way, anyone remembers a particular Muslim leather exporter (now a spokesman-emeritus for the industry that thrives in Dharavi) who supplies hand bags in big ways to Europe and other countries. I forgot.. some Khan or Qaadri.

[Coolguyz]

I think that guy is known for textile exports,he was featured in mutliple documentaries for western media. For leather look no further than rasulbhai admaji,the best raw leather supplier in town,they are expensive but it can give even italians a run for their money

[afako]

Originally Posted by patentneer

Exactly.

No reason why THIS VERY ECO-SYSTEM be amplified, through the most obvious natural asset: real-estate.

The challenge is to retain the dynamics, relationships and interactions - legal and illegal, for the greater good.

Power obsessed, fear driven autocratic govt. system is the problem.

2 Years back:

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/repor...omplex_1421172

10-by-10 feet shanty at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). These days he is getting even less sleep because when it rains, his tin roof leaks.

But life is about to take a fairytale turn for Mohammed. Soon he will have a 1BHK flat in Bhandup and send his son to an English medium school. That is because he is within touching distance of Rs1 crore. It will not be a jackpot win. It is money a builder will eventually pay Mohammed and each of scores of hutment owners to obtain their land for development.

Eighteen months ago, the builder offered Rs45 lakh per hutment, of which there were 486. More than half the hutment owners accepted the amount and moved out. But to persuade the ones who did not, the builder kept increasing the amount till it touched Rs80 lakh. Still, 60 hutment owners remained, for whom he has jacked up the sum by Rs10 lakh. Going by the trend, Rs1 crore might be some months away.

No Wonder these Thugs wouldn't leave the place.

[Vicky007]

Originally Posted by Coolguyz

I think that guy is known for textile exports,he was featured in mutliple documentaries for western media. For leather look no further than rasulbhai admaji,the best raw leather supplier in town,they are expensive but it can give even italians a run for their money

One of the units that i saw was making a sofa (job work for one of Rasul Adamji's customer), the leather being used was at Rs 6000 a feet, this was in the late 90's.
Interesting thing was unlike the other leather which comes largely from the tanneries around chennai this one was finished at a small speciality tannery in Dharavi.
The Calf leather felt like silk. The normal split leather at that time was Rs18 a feet.

[akbarsyed]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-...e1-968536.aspx

After 12 years of uncertainty and controversy, the state government has finally broken ground on the Dharavi redevelopment project. Work has begun on the construction of 344 apartments in Sector 5 of the slum.
“We have started construction. Piling work is going on at the moment,” said


Sachin Ahir State minister for housing.
The Rs. 15,000-crore revamp project, which aims to turn India’s largest slum into a plush township, has had its share of setbacks. Last month, locals led by the Shiv Sena stopped the Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority (Mhada) from conducting the Bhoomi Pujan or inauguration ceremony, claiming the state was not meeting demands put forth by residents.

Still unconvinced, opponents have now said they won’t let the project come to fruition till locals are taken into confidence. “They had started the digging work, but we reached the spot and stopped it,” said Baburao Mane, former Sena legislator. “We will allow it to continue if we are promised bigger houses and a higher corpus fund.”

Despite this, Mhada officials appear to have stood their ground. “We are serious about the project and will make it happen,” Ahir said.

Dharavi has been divided into five sectors and the state government has assigned the redevelopment of Sector 5 to Mhada.

In what could be seen as a cautious start, work will be undertaken in only seven of the 62 hectares in Sector 5, which is incidentally vacant land owned by the housing body itself. Mhada plans to construct the tenements and shift existing residents to the new houses.

On the locals’ demand, an official who did not wish to be named said, “We are giving them what is legally permissible. These people just want to politicise the issue.”

It’s been a bumpy ride for the project, which had once attracted 101 builders, a number that dwindled to 19 and settled at 7. Two years ago, the state decided to cancel all tenders and assign Sector 5 to Mhada

[devendra1]

unless construction fully starts on sector 5 we cannot be positive.

[muthu77]

I am from Dharavi, I feel may be it 300 sq ft or 400 sq ft does not matter, But Matter is how fast the project completes and we get the flat it hand, its draged so much year, Residents lost the hope and got frustrated. Previously also by SRA scheme Building is to come up, Even now around 10 % already converted to Building. You can view Buildings in the 90th Ft road of Dharavi which are constructed by SRA scheme before this plan, Having 225 sq ft area.
If SRA scheme not stoped till now 70 % huts will be converted to Buildings. I personally feel people want to complete this project quickly or else leave it to SRA scheme.

[jinka sreekanth]

Originally Posted by musiccity

Here are some major slum-public housing conversions in Luanda, Angola

This is Kilambi Kiaxi, formerly a sprawling slum




From the Angolan forum

Hope Dharvi is also redeveloped in atleast 10 years

[patentneer]

Lazy jinka means this:



Re: Mumbai today, it is rather old school; a mini-me Hiranandani Powai.
Methinks a Canary Wharf, Singapore Marina or Rockfeller Center type re-development is more in line.

(c) & link http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...700158&page=14

[akbarsyed]

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2013/feb...-want-more.htm

While several political parties are crying hoarse that Dharavi residents be given flats measuring a minimum of 400 square feet post-redevelopment and some are even demanding flats as big as 700 sq ft, the slum-dwellers are running out of patience.


Dharavi residents say they want redevelopment to happen soon so that it betters their standard of living. File pic

Dharavi residents, mostly slum-dwellers who reside in shanties measuring not more than 60 sq ft, say they would be happy even if they get proper 300 sq ft (carpet area) apartments as promised by the government. All they want is that the redevelopment should happen soon.

Expectations
Hariram Dilliwala, a Dharavi resident and Secretary of PROUD, an NGO that functions from Dharavi, claimed that residents would be happy even if they get smaller flats because they would definitely be getting something bigger than the current pint-sized shanties they live in.

Dilliwala said, “Many have ground plus one-storeyed structures, which two families share. Even the combined floor space of two shanties wouldn’t be more than 120 sq ft. So if we get 300 sq ft apartment, we would have a living room, a bedroom, a separate kitchen and indoor toilet and bathroom, our condition will definitely improve.”

He added that though the politicians are asking for a bigger space for them, Dharavi residents would be happy with area the government is ready to give. “Our only request is that the government should start the redevelopment soon. We all want to stay in better homes,” Dilliwala said.

Sanjay Shinde, convener of Aapli Mumbai, another NGO that works for redevelopment of Dharavi, claimed that most of the slum-dwellers are now searching for an instant solution to their housing problem. Shinde said, “Everyone here wants redevelopment to happen soon. The area of 300 sq ft is sufficient and people who have an extra storey can buy 100 sq ft at the market rate. Dharavi residents are now fighting for the redevelopment to happen at the earliest.”

Politicospeak
Justifying their demand, politicians said they were doing it so that the slum-dwellers could get bigger flats. Arjun Dangle, of RPI (A), had earlier demanded that the slum-dwellers should get flats measuring 600 sq ft. “The government should give slum-dwellers flats measuring at least 500 sq ft. We are associated with the Dharavi Bachao Samiti, along with the Shiv Sena, and the demand is for the slum-dwellers’ benefit,” Dangle said.

Officialspeak
MHADA Vice-President Satish Gawai said, “Please hear what the residents of Dharavi have to say.” MHADA is the official body in-charge of excuting redevelopment projects in Dharavi.

[n20]

"Too many cooks are spoiling the broth"!

[sixsigma1978]

Originally Posted by n20

"Too many cooks are spoiling the broth"!

Part of parcel of grassroot disruptive democracy, the one that doesn't help anyone!
Too much money is involved + Too many affected votebank = every political vulture is circling the heap to take some picking!
Throw in the Medha Patkars - and you see why it will take a while for Mumbai to go from 60% Slums (earning it a very legitimate slumdog tag) to semblance of Shanghai !

[hshah]

Originally Posted by sixsigma1978

Part of parcel of grassroot disruptive democracy, the one that doesn't help anyone!
Too much money is involved + Too many affected votebank = every political vulture is circling the heap to take some picking!
Throw in the Medha Patkars - and you see why it will take a while for Mumbai to go from 60% Slums (earning it a very legitimate slumdog tag) to semblance of Shanghai !

I used to wonder if the affected people themselves are also demanding bigger flats. According to the article, they are not. But we never know, this too may be a propoganda article from either MHADA or MMRDA. But what is amazing is that progress is being disrupted in the name of the betterment of the affected persons and the politicians (or even the so-called NGOs) causing these delays are so often re-elected.

[akbarsyed]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-...1-1014121.aspx

The stalled Dharavi redevelopment project is inching back on track, with the state looking to appoint a project consultant for the revamp of four sectors of one of Asia’s largest slums.

The fifth sector is being developed by Mhada. The tenders to select the bid management


consultancy will be issued next month.
The consultant is expected to hand-hold the authorities through the bidding process for the redevelopment of 175 hectares, which will rehabilitate around 50,000 families in new homes.

The consultant will have to prepare a master plan along with the bid document, which will detail the selection criteria for interested parties.

Sticking to its 2007 decision, the state plans to redevelop the four sectors through private partnerships, by offering land as incentive to rehabilitate existing tenants.

“We want to ensure there’s integrated development, with developers creating the entire infrastructure,” said Jayant Kumar Banthia, chief secretary.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-...1-1014133.aspx

Two years after Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan called for transparency in the Dharavi redevelopment project, which is expected to transform one of Asia’s largest slums into a modern township, the revamp plan is finally moving forward. Last week, the state housing department finalised


the terms of reference for selecting a bid management consultant to redevelop four sectors of Dharavi.
Spread across 535 acres, Dharavi has been divided into five sectors, of which one – Sector 5 – is being redeveloped by the state through the Mhada.

The tender for the consultant is likely to be issued next month. However, many questions remain unanswered.

In 2011, Chavan had questioned the premise of cross-subsidisation, in which a developer pays a premium and is offered incentive floor space index or built-up area in exchange for rehabilitating slumdwellers. Estimates had shown that the construction cost in one sector with 9,000 slumdwellers would not exceed Rs2,000 crore, while the auction of land could earn Rs22,000 crore. After this, it was decided that Mhada would redevelop Sector 5.

“Using land to incentivise is problematic. The state will never get to exploit the value of the land through auction and developers will benefit more. But neither SRA [Slum Rehabilitation Authority] nor Mhada has the wherewithal to develop all sectors on its own by giving a contract,” said a senior official.

The committee set up in 2009, headed by former chief secretary DM Sukhtankar, had suggested a more piecemeal redevelopment. “Our committee recommended that redevelopment should be done in smaller clusters such as the existing ‘nagars’, with more local stake,” Sukhtankar said. Dharavi has around 85 nagars.

Chief secretary JK Banthia said breaking down the clusters was not feasible if one wanted integrated development. “We want to ensure integrated development, with developers creating the infrastructure – roads, drainage space, water supply, open spaces, clinics, schools. Developers can hand over the maintenance of the infrastructure to the civic body,” he said.
Banthia also questioned the need to retain all current industrial activities. ““Industrial sheds can be weaved into the plan to manage pollution better, but a decision has to be taken on whether some of these polluting activities should continue in the middle of the city.”

He added that the state was looking at a more fool-proof bid document, one with stronger compliance guidelines, penalties, more revenue for state and clear risk-sharing plans.