MUMBAI: Twenty-five years after its inception, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority's (SRA) failure to create a slum-free Mumbai has prompted around 80 city architects to come together and propose ways to make the city a better place.
The SRA has a dismal record of having built only 2.5 lakh homes during this period. Architects pointed out that what the SRA has created are vertical slums with even worse living conditions.
Architect and town plann-er P K Das emphasised the government make town planni-ng norms central to all redevelopment projects. He pointed out that the government estimates 10 lakh affordable hom-es need to be built to fulfill the city's housing requirement. "This goal can be easily achieved provided the government follows town-planning norms and uses slum-occupied lands and Mhada layouts exclusively for affordable housing," he said. "While slums are spread over 37 sq km, if we were to exclude Dharavi, port trust land and other central government lands, there is still 26.6 sq km available. Mhada has another 2,000 hectares. Both put together can generate over 18 lakh homes, besides amenities such as schools, hospitals, and open spaces. Instead of allowing redevelopment of individual slums, a town planning approach for slum-occupied land using FSI of 4 can help develop ground with 8-10-storey buildings along with amenities and open spaces..."
Architect Nitin Killawala said housing must be given the status of infrastructure projects where land has zero value. "For a 10x10ft shanty in places like Juhu, a slumdweller pays Rs 15 lakh. This shows that the slumdweller has purchasing power...what she/he needs is access to low-cost housing loans. We hear of scams of thousands of crores in slums...this can stop if the government enables the slumdweller to access the formal financial system," he said.
Architect Prashant Sutaria said if SRA was to be more liberal in approving innovative designs for rehab buildings then architects could help better the living conditions, while architect Trupti Vaitla stated that given the fact that it would take a 100 years to redevelop all slums, it is important to improve the existing units.
