Slumdwellers to pay up for homes: SRA

Mumbai: Redeveloped homes may prove costlier for slum dwellers as the cost of infrastructure and administrative cost will be charged along with the construction cost of the redeveloped structure.

While giving protection to illegal slums, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced a few months ago that slums that had come up between January 1, 2000 and January 11, 2011 would be charged for rehabilitation and such slum dwellers would not get homes free of cost. As per orders issued by the housing department, slum dwellers would have to pay the entire amount of a new home before possession within a period of three months after demand, else they would lose the claim.

When Mr Fadnavis announced protection for slums that had come up till 2011, he clarified that dwellers of slums that had come up between January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2011 would have to pay for the redeveloped homes. Now, the housing department has issued orders and it has been clarified that such slum dwellers will have to bear the infrastructure and administrative costs. This will increase the cost of new homes for the slum dwellers.

A special cell has been established as part of the slum redevelopment authority (SRA) to decide the cost of redeveloped homes in each project. SRA will send the demand letter when the redevelopment project reaches completion stage. After receiving the demand note, slum dwellers have to pay the SRA the entire cost of the home within three months, as per directions issued by the housing department. The CEO (chief executive officer) has granted an additional period of up to three months for payment by the slum dwellers. Even after that, if they can’t bear the costs, they will lose the claim, said the housing department.