REDEVELOPING THE CITY

Slum rehabilitation is a long process. However, some steps by the government can ease the process considerably.      Slums occupy around 30 per cent of the available land in Mumbai, while being home to almost 60 per cent of the city's population. Any slum rehabilitation project, starts with 70 per cent or more of the eligible hutment dwellers in a slum pocket, having to show their willingness to join the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) and come together to form a cooperative housing society through a resolution to that effect.      "The resolution should be adopted for electing a chief promoter, officer bearers and the members of the proposed society. They should collect the information of the proposed members/slum dwellers and fill the Annexure II, prescribed by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), along with a request to the SRA/collector-town planning division, for survey/measurement of the plot, showing slum structures therein, with the help of surveyors attached to the office of the additional collector (Enc) of the zone," says Amit Thacker, head, SD Corporation Pvt Ltd.      The next step is to search for a competent developer. The chosen developer also has to appoint an architect, in consultation with the proposed cooperative housing society of slum dwellers, to prepare the development plans of the slum area, as per DCR 33 (10). The next critical milestone of the SRS project is to get the Annexure II issued by the additional collector (Enc), which confirms the eligibility of the slum dwellers and reasons for non-eligibility. This is based on various documents submitted by the slum dwellers prior to January 1, 1995 which is the cut-off date for eligibility. All non-eligible slum dwellers have an alternative to appeal before the secretary SRA, for adjudication of their eligibility.      "There is no central body that maintains uniform records of the slum dwellers. As things stand now, their status needs to be verified by diverse and invariably conflicting records, presented by ration cards, electricity bills, shop licenses, voter ID card and property tax records. It is therefore, difficult to establish the exact time since when many of them reside in the area," points out Ashutosh Limaye, head-research and REIS, Jones Lang LaSalle India.      Meanwhile, the developer also applies to the SRA for the Letter of Intent (LOI). The LOI mentions details regarding the plot area, sanctioned FSI, permissible FSI, number of slum dwellers to be accommodated, reservations and other conditions, to be complied before asking for the Intent of Approval (IOA). After compliance with certain conditions of the LOI, the IOA can be issued and the process of relocation of slum dwellers can be initiated. The residents are usually moved to a rental/transit accommodation.      It is difficult to ascertain the exact time frame for exercising the SRA development in view of involvement of multiple stakeholders in the process. Approval processes for any SRA projects, are more complex as compared to the normal approvals of any residential projects. Hence, many a times, the approvals are delayed and cannot be defined in a certain period. "In SRA projects, the number of tenants required to be resettled are much larger than any otherredevelopment projects. Also, since they are not that aware of the legalities, they need to be handled more patiently, as they demand the world. They see this as a money making opportunity rather than looking at a good life ahead. The entire process therefore, takes much longer than any other normalredevelopment project," explains Diipesh Bhagtani, executive director, Jaycee Homes.      According to Fali Poncha, director-land agency, west, Knight Frank (India) Pvt Ltd, the time to execute an SRA project varies, depending on the plot size, number of slum tenements to be rehabilitated, phasing of the construction of rehab and free sale buildings and receipt of timely permissions from the SRA and the municipal corporation of greater Mumbai. A small project of around 1-2 lakh sq ft can be completed in 3-4 years, whereas, a large project of 10-15 lakh sq ft could take 7-10 years towards completion.      Kaushik More, director, Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt Ltd, explains how "The key challenge in this segment remains the trust deficit between developers and slum dwellers. This gap can be bridged to a notable extent by a developer's track record and the vision to provide the best quality free housing in Mumbai. Strategies like partnering with the best company in the construction space, etc., can raise the bar in the SRA space." Some challenges faced by developers undertaking slum rehabilitation schemes include additional illegal slum tenements (not counted in the census) claiming the right of rehabilitation, illegal commercial users (shops, small industrial galas, etc.) claiming resettlement rights, dealing with extortionist demands of slum lords, delay in approvals and constraints on construction plans arising from site conditions.      "Each project brings up a different challenge based on the number of tenants, area of the plot, available FSI, zone in which the land for redevelopment is and many more. All these are resolved by analysing the requirement of the project. We cannot have the same yardstick for all projects," adds Bhagtani.      The SRA is one organisation, created by the government, which is a single window for all issues that developers face during the entire redevelopment process. The organisation has been aiding developers, as it has been granted the powers to work out solutions to all problems. "However, in a city like Mumbai, there are many slums near the shoreline, in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) space. The government must look at better policies for redevelopment of slums in this area, which will aid in the creation of better spaces for slum dwellers and boost the supply of homes in the city," informs Thacker. More further clarifies that the eligibility norms for transfer of structures, need to be detailed out by the state government, in order to put SRS on the fast track. The government is also required to encourage Public Private Partnership (PPP) models in the SRA to bring more transparency in the system. Bhagtani seconds this point "The government should involve real estate developers in a PPP model to eradicate slums." The commercial aspect of the SRA is in the form of cross-subsidisation, where the developer can cover the cost of rehabilitation by selling the free sale component of the SRA project. "However, it is true that footpath dwellers present a problem as there are no clearly defined land parcels attached. Footpath dwellers have to be rehabilitated somewhere and there needs to be a free sale component to make it interesting for developers," concludes Limaye.  QUICK  BYTE      THE TIME TO EXECUTE AN SRA PROJECT VARIES, DEPENDING ON THE PLOT SIZE, NUMBER OF SLUM TENEMENTS TO BE REHABILITATED, PHASING OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF REHAB AND FREE SALE BUILDINGS, AND RECEIPT OF TIMELY PERMISSIONS FROM THE SRA AND THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF GREATER MUMBAI.