RELOCATING SLUMS FROM THE JUNGLE!
Vijay Singh I TNN
Mumbai : After practically living in the wilderness for over 15 years, over 5,000 families of hutment dwellers within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park will soon move into low-income apartment blocks in Chandivali next to a tony Raheja complex.
Built on an abandoned quarry site by Sumer Corporation, these seven-storeyed structures comprising 4,142 flats are nearly ready for possession. The first batch of slum dwellers will be shifted here in the next 15 days. And another set of 1,772 flats will be ready within the next two months. The tough stand taken by the high court, which last week ordered resettlement of all the encroachers from the forest by December 31, 2007, seems to have provided fresh impetus to the rehabilitation plan.
Spread over 103 sq km, SNGP is the largest national park located within city limits anywhere in the world. By the late 1990s, over 500 acres of the park had been encroached upon by families who constructed hutments. The plan to rehabilitate the slum dwellers was initiated in September 2003 after the HC ordered the government to remove all encroachers from the park in six months, following a public interest litigation filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG).
After the PIL was filed, it was estimated that slum dwellers in about 12,000 pre-1995 structures had to be rehabilitated. But the deadline for the work was repeatedly extended, with the builder and authorities blaming each other for the delay.
One of the partners in the Sumer Group, Ramesh Shah, said the delay could be attributed to the legal and bureaucratic processes involved in resettlement work. Consensus had to be reached on a site where all the slumdwellers could be moved.
Shah said all the major hurdles have now been crossed. "In three years we have developed 100 buildings of seven floors each in this SRA township, and another 50 buildings are under construction. This can house all the 12,500 families currently living in the jungle.''
Shah added that all the buildings will have municipal water supply, drains, and proper electricity along with lifts. "Considering that the realty rates are as high as Rs 5,500 per sq ft at Chandivali, and nearly Rs 11,000 per sq ft at Hiranandani, the rehabilitated families have got a very good deal here in comparison to the original plan to shift them to Kalyan, which is very far away,'' he said.
Architect P K Das of the Nivara Hakk Samiti, which is representing the slumdwellers, told TOI that each flat at Chandivali has a carpet area of 225 sq ft, and comprises a large multipurpose room, kitchen with sink basin and a washroom.
"Unlike some of the previous SRA designs where developers have badly laid out the flats with a large central corridor, the Chandivali flats are refreshingly better,'' said Das.
When TOI visited the Chandivali township, the apartments looked airy and the toilets well ventilated. On each floor, there are either five or six flats, depending on the position of the buildings. A balcony with a view is an added bonus. There are individual electricity meters on the ground floor for each flat, and the complex also has a Balwadi for the children.
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