LARGER HOMES Group demands 400 sq ft flats for Dharavi residents When it comes to homes in Dharavi, demands are growing larger in size: From 180 sq ft, when the government first took up the slum rehabilitation project, to 225 sq ft, to 300 sq ft last year and now it is 400 sq ft.     The Dharavi Bachao Andolan has demanded that every family in Dharavi must be given a 400 sqft flat. “The government, besides rehabilitating residents of shanties, will commercially exploit most of the 550 acres of Dharavi. Providing another 100 sq-feet free of cost will not hit its bottomline,” said Baburao Mane of Dharavi Bachao Andolan, threatening to stall the redevelopment work before it starts, if the government did not fulfil their request. The organization, which claims to represent all political parties in the city, met governor K Sankaranarayanan last week, requesting him to ask the government to accept their demand. Mane pointed out that the Congress lost five of the six Dharavi seats in the civic polls. He added neither Congress MP Eknath Gaikwad nor his daughter Varsha Gaikwad could win as they did not listen to people’s demands.     The Nivara Hakk Suraksha Samiti has been campaigning for all slum redevelopment projects to be converted into low-cost housing plans, with the sale component being used exclusively for creating housing stock for the low-income and middle-class families, ensuring mixed housing. Civic activist and architect P K Das said that at present, no one knew how the government was deciding on the size of a flat under the free housing scheme. The decisions, he said, were being made from the point of view of the developer and not that of slum-dwellers.     “The government must prepare a comprehensive masterplan for a slum-free development and affordable housing. It will then be able to decide on standards for housing, including density in a given area, amenities and the size of a free house,” Das said.     Dharavi is also rising high on the rental list. “Nearly 80% people in Dharavi live on rent,” said Shweta Damle of NGO Committee for Right to Housing. NGO Mashaal conducted a survey and found that only about 100 families owned most of the structures in Dharavi, whose population is estimated at 3 lakh. “Rental housing stock should be created within the city. It should form a part of the slum redevelopment scheme managed by Mhada,” said Damle. Post a Comment: