Mumbai, November 4: Calling the just-released draft housing policy of the state a sellout to private builders and corporates, citizens’ groups under the banner of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) on Saturday called for a continuing struggle seeking the implementation of the Affordable Housing Policy submitted by activists earlier.

“It’s not possible to transform Mumbai into a world-class city without the the rehabilitation of 60 per cent of the city’s population, now living in slums,” said architect and urban planner Arvind Adarkar. Adarkar and other activists had been members of a High Court-appointed committee that had held detailed discussions with government officials and citizens’ groups before submitting their draft of an Affordable Housing Policy. “This policy has no long-term plan for these slum dwellers.”

Activist Medha Patkar said the policy had been prepared without consultation with people’s groups and charged the government with “kneeling down before the World Bank and builders’ lobby”. Her main contentions: The Congress-NCP poll promise of extending cut-off date for eligibility for slumdwellers’ rehabilitation should have been clearly stated in the policy, rural areas in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region will bear the brunt of urbanisation and the policy further supports the contentious issue of land acquisition under the SEZ policy. “Applying the Dharavi model, which implies an FSI of 4, for slum rehabilitation projects over 40 hectares large, “ she said, “means builders are getting a type of bonanza.”

Fifteen thousand acres of land available under the Urban Land Ceiling Regulation Act should be acquired for housing the poor, they demanded, adding that slums should be redeveloped only in SITU.

The activists did, however, agree that the mention of low income group housing, inclusionary zoning for low and middle income group housing in big private layouts and in SITU rehabilitation of slums through residents’ cooperatives is welcome.