Townships planned to tackle slums

Vaishnavi C Sekhar / TNN / May 27, 2006, 03:46 IST

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Mumbai Transformation Support Unit is working on a business plan for the Mumbai metropolitan area.

MUMBAI: Mumbai Transformation Support Unit is working on a business plan for the Mumbai metropolitan area. The Unit was set up last year in an agreement with the state government and the World Bank-supported Cities Alliance to aid the Task Force.
While the plan is still in the "discussion" stage, some key ideas are already crystallising especially in housing, slum policy and infrastructure finance.
In housing, apart from the standard demands to liberalise the real estate market by doing away with the Urban Land Ceiling Act and amending the Rent Control Act, the plan is likely to look at a 'variable floor space index (FSI)', in which the allotment of a higher FSI (buildable area) to some areas like central business districts and areas around railway stations is being contemplated.
"In no big city in the world do they have a blanket FSI as Mumbai has," added Jain. A key question revolves around how Mumbai should raise resources for its transformation, especially after its recent failure to get funds from the Centre.

"A percentage of GDP must be ploughed back into the city," says A K Jain of the Unit, explaining that besides the money being spent by various agencies and financing infrastructure projects through user charges, a 'development charge' is also being considered...
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"For example, Navi Mumbai will benefit from the Sewri-Nhava Shewa link, so we could levy development charges on construction there." To solve Mumbai's slum problem, self-redevelopment and township approaches are being considered.

"The township approach might work for slums which cover large tracts of land and contain much informal economic activity," said Jain, adding while relocation was necessary for slums that come in the way of infrastructure projects or those in vulnerable areas, it would not be possible everywhere.
A central principle here is the withdrawal of the state from housing supplier to facilitator, in line with the current pro-market bent.
Suggestions for reforms in governance will include increased devolution of power from the municipal corporation level to the ward committees, so that the BMC becomes more of a policy and planning institution.
The plan is likely to recommend setting up a metropolitan planning committee, an indirectly elected body for the entire region.
The government is already looking at ways to take this roadmap forward by appointing a consultant to study specific proposals in conjunction with employment, housing and other trends.
"For example if we identify Bhiwandi as a potential growth centre, the study will look specifically at the township's need for transport and infrastructure," said Jain. The state hopes to get funding for the plan from the World Bank.

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