No private slum redevelopment in CRZ areas

No private slum redevelopment in CRZ areas

Only Govt-Funded Housing Should Be Allowed, Says Panel

A committee of experts on the coastal zone has recommended only Government-financed housing for economically weaker sections involving slums and dilapidated buildings falling under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) in the city. Builders should be kept out of this, it has been suggested.

The panel, under the chairmanship of Prof M S Swaminathan , submitted its report on the draft coastal management zone notification to Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh.

The committee has made a special case for Mumbai in its report. The Government must consider public finance for housing so that this development can be used for meeting the needs of existing households without compromising on ecological safety, the report read.

According to some estimates , there are roughly 2,500 dilapidated buildings and about 60 large slum pockets stretching from Versova to Cuffe Parade, which fall under the CRZ.

Referring to Mumbai, the Swaminathan panel report said fishermen had complained that they did not benefit from slum redevelopment schemes.

They explained that in the name of slum rehabilitation or reconstruction of dilapidated structures, the houses of local communities were given the least priority. The prime land, especially the sea-facing properties , belonging to these communities were sold at exorbitant costs by the developers, while the redeveloped area earmarked for fisherfolk was small and on marginal land. They requested the committee to debar all projects of slum redevelopment on this land, arguing that only projects which secured their ownership should be permitted, the report stated.

City builders, on the other hand, had asked the committee for a very high floor space index (FSI) to make redevelopment projects falling under CRZ viable.

Their argument was that to provide free housing for existing dwellers who live in cramped conditions, they needed to construct more within the same area. And to make this housing viable, they needed to build more to sell and recover their costs, the report said.