BMC commissioner signs order for Tulsiwadi Urban Renewal and allotment of flats on ownership basis to the conservancy workers of the civic body; deal involves land measuring 78,801 sq m in Mahalaxmi
On Tuesday, when BMC chief Sitaram Kunte signed the order of Tulsiwadi Urban Renewal and allotment of flats on ownership basis to the conservancy workers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), he made way for one of the largest redevelopment plans of the land measuring 78,801 sq m, opposite the Mahalaxmi Racecourse.
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The price of the land is well over Rs 3,000 crore, without taking into account the floor space index (FSI). According to real estate market sources, the per-square-metre rate in Mahalaxmi is around Rs 4 lakh. By that rate, the price of 78,801 sq m of land stands at Rs 3,152 crore.
The redevelopment of the area will be carried out under the cluster redevelopment scheme, Development Control Rule 33 (9), which allows an FSI of 4. Currently, 31,460 square metres are occupied by 724 staff quarters of solid waste management department and the remaining 47,341 square metres, by slums.u00a0
Additional quarters
After redevelopment, the civic body will get 1,086 additional staff quarters. Residents of the existing 724 staff quarters will get flats of 269 sq ft. These will be given to them on the basis of ownership. Finally, the slum area, comprising of 2,496 shanties, would be developed. The remaining land will be a saleable component for the builder, who can use it to recover expenses.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Estate Department) Milin Sawant said, “It’s a win-win situation for the BMC as we are getting 1.5 times the existing staff quarters. The proposal to give ownership tenements to conservancy workers was in the pipeline since 1997-98. We are also planning to implement Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Shramsafalya Awas Yojana, a special scheme for conservancy workers. However, the BMC is yet to decide the Development Control Rule (DCR) on the same.”
While residents of Tulsiwadi are happy to be getting their own homes in Mumbai, they feel that the municipal corporation should have auctioned the plots instead of handing over the whole land to the developer. This would have also benefited the government. Amit Maru, a social activist who has a house in Tulsiwadi, said, “I am happy that our fight to have homes on ownership basis has finally borne fruit. We will have homes at a location where many generations have lived. But BMC should have auctioned the plots as it would have helped the body.”
On the other hand, Sawant said that the plan of redeveloping Tulsiwadi was in the pipeline since a long time as they were getting more staff quarters even after providing the existing staffers with ownership flats and redeveloping the slum in the area.
1,086
Additional staff quarters will come up after the redevelopment is carried out at Tulsiwadi