Mumbai: Over 74,000 families displaced by civic work need houses

PAP colony in Mahul is one such place where families hit by projects were rehabilitated. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Demand for tenements for Project Affected People (PAP) resulting from civic projects has doubled in the past four years. According to a 2019 estimate by the civic body, around 35,000 families displaced by civic projects needed relocation. However, according to an estimate this year, the number of such families has risen to 74,752, even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has only a few thousand houses available.

The rise is attributed to new projects and the state government's decision to extend rehabilitation for structures that came into existence after 2000 and until 2011.
Joint Municipal Commissioner Ramesh Pawar told mid-day, "The number of estimated families has risen due to BMC's planned civic projects. The projects displacing people include the widening of the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Road in the eastern suburbs. There are also development projects like the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR)."

Another official said that projects like the ongoing Mithi river widening, the removal of encroachment present along the main water pipeline, and the proposed Versova Dahisar Link Road will impact many houses.

The state government's decision to extend rehabilitation to structures built after 2000 and until 2011 was in relation to the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme. Residents of such houses seeking rehabilitation have to pay a minimum of Rs 2.5 lakh. Structures built before 2000 get free-of-cost rehabilitation. "Based on this decision, the BMC, too, decided to rehabilitate PAP residing in structures that came up until 2011. Apart from the minimum payment of Rs 2.5 lakh, the BMC also limited the rehabilitation only to vital, major civic projects," a civic official said.

This extension alone increased the estimated demand for tenements by 15,000-16,000.

Available tenements

Even as the number of PAP needing rehabilitation rises, the official added, "The BMC has received only 2,113 tenements from various authorities like the SRA and the Shiv Shahi Rehabilitation project. Tenements built by BMC come up to only 3,019. There are also around 11,000 homes for PAP lying vacant due to a stay order by the court. On the other hand, many families are reluctant to leave areas of their original residence."

To accommodate this demand, the BMC has decided to build 35,000 houses for PAP in Mumbai. Each of the seven administrative zones would have at least 6,000 homes for PAP.

Recently, the civic body also approved a proposal to change the reservation of a 20-acre plot in Andheri West to build 10,000 homes for PAP. In Kanjurmarg, a project to build 4,000 houses has been approved, while in Mulund East, 8,000 houses would come under another project. In Chandivli, however, the BMC recently cancelled a project for 4,000 homes as the contractors failed to start construction despite a one-and-a-half-year delay.

The projects are allotted under a policy wherein the BMC gives Transferable Development Rights (TDR) or credit notes to contractors. The BMC pays Rs 30 lakh to Rs 35 lakh for each tenement of 300 square feet area.

35k
2019 estimate of PAP needing houses

74,752
2023 estimate of PAP needing houses