WHY NOBODY WANTS TO REVAMP MUMBAI'S SLUMS

Slum redevelopment has become a risky, tardy and messy affair

- Madhurima Nandy

Dinesh Shinde and his friends often meet in the evenings at Golibar Colony, a 130-acre slum cluster in suburban Mumbai. Having lived in 150-200 sq ft tenements all their lives, their conversations inevitably touch on their most pressing problem: how much longer do they have to wait to move into homes in proper buildings. Homes with an address that can help them avail a bank loan, get married or find a betterjob and facilitate admission for their children in good schools.

In 2006, the redevelopment of this slum, sprawling across Khar and Santacruz East, was handed over by the Maharashtra government to a joint venture of Shivalik Ventures, Rohan Lifescapes and Unitech Ltd. Sixteen years on, only 5% of the project has been completed. Unitech got mired in the 2G spectrum scam, making it impossible for the venture to raise funds. Another sticky issue is multiple ownership of the land. Once a firing range, Golibar is partly owned by the defence ministry, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and others. Shinde, for instance, lives in the defence-owned 40-acre part of the slum that has around 9,500 huts.

Golibar typifies the long, complex and messy process that has come to define slum redevelopment in Mumbai. Developers are often embroiled in fraudulent cases. Land ownership is complicated; political and legal interventions are frequent; liquidity issues are perennial; there is little clarity on policy or planning.

Dharavi, which houses a million people, is another textbook case of the problems inherent in such projects. When global tenders were first issued in 2007 for the redevelopment of this 239-hectare settlement in the heart of Mumbai, 101 responses from developers around the world were received. After multiple cancelled tenders, when bids were re-invited in 2016, no one showed up.