Rainbow coalition govt offers 500 sqft houses for free to slum dwellers

Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led rainbow coalition government, comprising the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP, on Friday announced its Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and promised to provide 500sqft free houses to slum-dwellers in Mumbai and across the state. Earlier, the slum-dwellers were offered houses measuring 300 sqft.

According to political pundits, the Sena coalition government has emphasised on providing free houses to woo the voters, with an eye on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election scheduled to be held two and half years later.

Surprisingly, when the Sena was in power in1995-1999 under the Manohar Joshi's regime, they had established the Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp Limited (SPPL) Corporation in 1998, similarly on the lines of Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). However, SPPL too failed to make Mumbai slum-free.

International property consultant Knight Frank, in its research report of November 2018 on Mumbai Development Plan 2034 -- Deciphering Mumbai's Future stated that despite the establishment of the SRA Act 1995 and several incentives, schemes were introduced hardly any progress was made; of the 1.5-1.6 million slum households in Mumbai, only 1 lakh houses have been built for the slum-dwellers over 20 years.

Moreover, the report had cited that at this rate, if it continues, then it will take another 300 years to rehabilitate slums in Mumbai, provided no new slums are added.

Citizens Justice Forum, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), which works on slum-dwellers related problems, its president Suleman Bhimani commented, "The process of slum redevelopment is wrong.

For instance, if a slum pocket has to be redeveloped, the government wants them to form a society first. Most of the time, this slum redevelopment societies due to their own vested interest, in connivance with the developer cheat the original slum-dwellers.

The illegal tenant gets a house in the project. Due to this issue, to make Mumbai a slum-free city will remain a distant dream. It has to be changed."

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