The 25 buildings which Hindu and Sikh Punjabi refugees have been living in since 1957 have become so dilapidated that they have to be vacated. The Maharashtra government plans to redevelop them, and give the owners apartments of more than 600 sq. ft., in place of the existing 360 sq. ft. flats.
Per MHADA’s rough estimate, 28 lakh sq. ft. can be developed in the 11-acre GTB Nagar refugee colony (also known as Punjabi Colony). Of this, over 7 lakh sq. ft. would be used to rehabilitate refugee families.
In the wake of Independence, when it was still Bombay state as Maharashtra had not been formed yet, the government had rehabilitated refugee families in 1,200 apartments. They were charged Rs 5,380 per apartment. Thus, even today, many of their children and grandchildren would rather the government did the redevelopment than private parties.
After deliberations with stakeholders including residents, the housing department, the urban development department, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the state housing authority — MHADA — has submitted a feasibility report to the housing department for further action on the same.
A letter from MHADA dated July 27, 2022, to one of the residents reads: ``In regards to the redevelopment of 25 buildings in GTB Nagar, we would like to inform you that a feasibility report has been submitted to the housing department. Further, for the redevelopment, a decision from the state government is required."
Purushottam Redekar, Architect and Director of G M Arch Pvt Limited, said, "The MHADA has appointed me for this project, and I have also submitted a feasibility report with proposed layout for the redevelopment. The overall area is of around 56,000 square metres. The FSI permissible will be 4.0, plus 35 percent fungible FSI. As per my working and rough estimate, the redevelopment will have huge potential of constructing around 28 lakh sq. ft. Of this, 7.20 lakh sq. ft. can be allotted for 1,200 apartments of 600 sq. ft. The rest (over 21 lakh sq. ft.) will be MHADA's stock that it can sell in the open market as affordable housing."
Redekar added, `I feel only MHADA can do this project, considering the scale and challenges involved. This can be done two ways. Either MHADA can appoint a contractor, like with the BDD chawl redevelopment, and invest in the project. Or it could bring a developer on board, who will construct it at his expense and hand over the tenements to MHADA. With MHADA helming the project, residents will have a sense of security."
The residents differ on whether they should go ahead with a private developer or MHADA, many also believe that if private developers are roped in, the colony should be divided into clusters and then redeveloped. According to residents, the redevelopment cost for the entire colony is around Rs 3,000 crore.
