ReDharavi

46
June 2008
WORld ECON. CRISIS dETERS bIddERS
Unperturbed by the protests, the Government of Maharastra decided
to proceed with the distribution of tenders and invited bids from various
multinational corporations. Tenders were floated and pre-qualification bids were
invited for the project.
A total of 19 bids were received. The bidders included Allied Real Estate of
Bulgaria, a joint venture of Indiabulls and US Shia Homes, Runwal Group
with Capital Land of Singapore, Emaar-MGF along with Dubai’s Expanse
Constructions, a joint venture of Neptune Developers with Pacifica of US, and a
Lanco-Sunray City (South Africa) alliance.
It was during this process of bidding when the global economic meltdown -
the result of the collapse of the U.S. housing market - hit India. This global
economic crisis forced the companies to opt out of the bidding process owing
to the large initial investment for the project. The project was estimated to cost
around Rs.15, 000 crores. The deposit to be paid by the winning bidders was
around Rs. 500 crores. Most of the bidders withdrew in the face
of risk and recession.
February 2, 2009
ExPERTS TEAM SET uP
In February 2009, a group of experts was formally appointed by the government
of Maharashtra as the Committee of Experts advising the government on the
process of redevelopment. The members were:
D.M. Sukthankar, IAS (Retd.), former Chief Secretary, GoM
Shirish Patel, structural engineer and urban planner
Vidhyadhar Phatak, urban planner
Chandrashekhar Prabhu, architect and housing activist
Arvind Adarkar, Director, Academy of Architecture
Neera Adarkar, architect and social activist
Aneerudha Paul, Director, Kamala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture
A.Jockin, President, National Slum Dwellers Federation
Sheela Patel, Director, SPARC
Sundar Burra, IAS (Retd.) and Adviser, SPARC
June 3, 2009
‘AghAST TO fINd NO SuRVEyS/STudIES dONE’
Extract of a letter from CoE to Sitaram Kunte, Secretary, Housing Department:
“ The basic pre-requisites for a project of this magnitude and complexity were
that it should have been preceded by a detailed socio-economic survey of
Dharavi, besides a plane table and topographical survey, transportation studies,
infrastructure and environmental assessment studies etc. We were appalled to
find that no such surveys and studies had been done and the bids were invited
probably on the false assurance of the consultants that these studies were
either already conducted or were not necessary.”
June 15, 2009
‘fSI 4 WIll CAuSE uNVIAblE dENSITy ’
Extract of a letter to Johny Joseph, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra:
“..Accommodating the free sale FSI up to a limit of 4 makes the resultant
density in Dharavi unworkable, in the sense that the requirements of
roads, open spaces, social amenities and facilities cannot be provided
to ensure a minimally acceptable quality of life. Further, adequate
distance between buildings necessary for basic minimum light and
ventilation also cannot be ensured...”
“The detailed socio-economic survey carried out in Dharavi
has revealed that there are about 57,000 households
eligible for rehabilitation. However, in keeping with the
current government policy, this survey has excluded the
households living in the upper storeys, whether as tenants
or members of extended families. We understand that...
since under the present policy, such households are
not eligible for rehabilitation, their exclusion will give
rise to serious unrest right from the beginning of the
project and threaten its very implementation.”