Mumbai: The Maharashtra government records show that only eight percent of the slums have been developed in the past 10 financial years. Activists levelled allegations that majoritarily projects are stuck in small pockets as the builders don't find it financially viable.
A Midday report cited recently-presented Maharashtra Economic Survey 2022-23 and stated that the officials had redeveloped as many as 1,63,635 homes before the 2011 census. The survey mentioned that the city had nearly 11,35,514 homes in the slums.
The report further stated that between 2012-13 to 2022-23 only 91,660 homes were redeveloped under the slum rehabilitation scheme. The report stated that in 2018-19 nearly 11,000 homes were redeveloped and in the following three years a total of 25,734 homes were redeveloped and in 2022-23 nearly 21, 824 homes were developed.
However, there has been no update in the data as census could not be undertaken in 2021 due to the pandemic. Census is conducted every 10 years.
Subsequently, the activists have alleged that the scheme reaps benefits only for the developers and hardly improves lifestyle of those rehabilitated from the slums.
Civic activist Anil Galgali was quoted by Midday saying that the scheme is beneficial for developers and not residents and thus they are reluctant to opt for redevelopment. Moreover, the SRA buildings constructed so far are like vertical slum without ventilation or space, he added.
Meanwhile another activist Santosh Mishra claimed that slums in small places are not developed since it does not have financial benefit for builders and he also said that the developers are interested in those slums spread over vast plots in prime locations of the city.
He also claimed that the quality of constructuion is bad as well and that many projects are stuck because developers don't deem it financially vialble.
Meanwhile another activist, Sanjay Gaurav, was quoted saying that the redeveloped houses are very minimally bigger than the slum settlements and called for government-helmed survey of the quality and desgin of the buildings developed under the rehabilitation scheme.
Sanjay Gurav, another activist, said the state government increased the area of the redeveloped houses from 225 square feet to just 269 square feet. “The government needs to conduct a survey of the quality and design of the buildings being developed under the slum rehabilitation scheme,” he added.
