Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, on April 22, 2017, said that the redevelopment of Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) chawls in Mumbai, will raise the standard of living of over 12,000 families, currently staying in close-packed homes. “This redevelopment project will be one of the most prestigious and beautiful urban development projects in the country. It will raise the standard of living of thousands of people living in a close-packed 160 sq ft premises,” said the chief minister. Fadnavis performed the groundbreaking ceremony (bhoomi pujan) for redevelopment projects of the BDD chawls in south Mumbai.
See also: BDD chawl redevelopment to focus on MIG segment
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Fadnavis said, “The first priority is to rehabilitate the tenants in a 500 sq ft flat, against their 160 sq ft tenements and after that, the saleable component would be constructed. In this redevelopment project of the chawls, 68 per cent of the land will be utilised to rehabilitate the residents and only 32 per cent will used by the developer.”
Fadnavis also announced that his government was working on a fast-track mode, for police housing and in the next two years, its results would be visible.
The government of Maharashtra has appointed the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) as the nodal agency, to execute the project through contractors. Larsen & Toubro has been tasked to redevelop the BDD chawls at Naigaon in Dadar, while the contract to redevelop the chawls of NM Joshi Marg in Lower Parel has been awarded to Shapoorji Pallonji Group. The Sewri site will be redeveloped by the Mumbai Port Trust, which owns the land.
With an FSI of four, chawls will be redeveloped under the cluster redevelopment scheme, in which one cluster will comprise four chawls. The tenants of this chawl are entitled to a flat with 500 sq ft carpet area, which is inclusive of fungible FSI. However, there will be no affordable segment in the sale component.
The BDD chawls were built in 1920s by the British, with an objective to create low-cost housing in Mumbai. There are 207 such chawls in south Mumbai, spread over 37 hectares in four areas – Worli (22.14 hectares), NM Joshi Marg (5.46 hectares), Sewri (2.32 hectares) and Naigaon (6.45 hectares). As many as 12,327 families currently reside in these 160-sq ft premises.
