Dharavi Redevelopment: 19 Years On, Can Adani Group Meet the Challenge?

The Adani Group won the bid for the project that has been lingering since 2004.

"You should visit Dharavi once, you will be able to see it beyond these widely reported facts and statistics about it," said Varsha Gaikwad, a four-time MLA from the Dharavi Assembly constituency. A Congress leader, Gaikwad is a resident of Dharavi herself.

The largest slum of Asia, and the third largest in the world, the facts and the figures, the trivia, the pandemic, and the people at Dharavi have been making headlines for decades. The issue of the redevelopment of Dharavi, however, stopped making headlines until recently when the Adani Group won the bid for its revamp.

For 19 years, the Dharavi Redevelopment Project has lingered on. Scores of developers have backed out after winning the bids, scores of IAS officers having been CEOs of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), and the processes being reframed several times.

Whether the Adani Group will be able to make the redevelopment a success remains to be seen, but redeveloping Dharavi, a "city within a city" as they call it, is easier said than done.

Adani Group and the Special Purpose Vehicle

A quick recap – In 2004, the Dharavi Redevelopment Authority (DRA) was formed under the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) by the Vilasrao Deshmukh-led Congress government. The goal of the DRA was to redevelop Dharavi entirely rather that individual developers taking up projects and redeveloping pockets of it.

The DRA mandates the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) - a public-private partnership consisting of the bidder (Adani Group in this case), the DRA and the SRA. The Adani Group has bid ₹5,069 crore to remodel Dharavi for the project that is estimated to cost Rs 23,000 crore.

As per reports, the developer (Adani Group in this case) will hold 80 percent equity in the SPV and the state government will hold 20 percent.

Spread over 300 hectare and housing a least 56,000 families, the government has notified 240 hectare for the project.

Why Has it Taken 19 Years?

Multiple surveys through the years have been conducted to devise and strategise the eligibility of families and households based on several factors.

Retired IAS officer, Gautam Chatterjee, who was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) from 2008-2010, explained what goes into redeveloping a slum, and furthermore, a slum like Dharavi.

Establishing eligibility, tenure, and timeline of residence: "The criteria today is that all those who were enrolled in the electoral roll up to the year 2000, and have been residing in Dharavi up to 2000, are eligible for free tenement. The ones who have come later up to 2011, they will have to pay for the construction costs. That still leaves a gap of 11 years," Chatterjee explained.

Allowing change/transfer of ownership: He further said that there are instances in which unscrupulous people try to move out the eligible residents by paying them to make themselves eligible of the free tenement they will get under the redeveloped structures. "So, there is also the issue if the policy will allow change of or transfer of tenements, even if the structure is an old structure," he said.

Conflicts over number of structures in one structure: "While the government may identify a particular building as one structure, but there might be more than one households in it with multiple floors, etc. So, resolving these issues, moving those people out into a transit home or paying them rent for alternate accommodation, and then clearing that land - these become the most crucial factors."

Establishing trail of documents: Most structures, Chatterjee said, lack proper documentation.

"You have to do the documentation afresh after every survey to establish the number of households within one structure, how many families reside in them, etc. Some of them have informal rental arrangements, they, too, have to be taken into consideration because they are essentially poor families as well," he said.

Speaking of these problems, Gaikwad said that there is a need for a fresh survey.

"Since the last survey, the number of families have increased, the existing families have extended. The eligibility criteria was chalked down as per the survey done years ago. It will have to be redone and the strategy will have to be devised again," she said.

What Happens to Small-Scale Businesses Running Within Dharavi?

Chatterjee further explained the challenges of moving the businesses out of Dharavi and the struggles accommodating many of them in the new model.

"Consider a particular sector which is running a paan shop or any grocery shop, they might get shops in a rehabilitated model. Then, there are businesses from tannery to pottery to all types of food making and informal activities. But walk down to another sector of Dharavi, where most people are working as a rag pickers, what happens to them?" Chatterjee said.

"If you have a certain factory that deals with salvage material or another which deals with recycling garbage, these places employ certain number of people. But will such units actually be accommodated in the residential or commercial nature of redeveloped Dharavi?" he added.

"What kinds of employment generators will be permitted in redeveloped Dharavi? That is a big question mark. So, a whole lot of activities may not find place in redeveloped Dharavi," Chatterjee explained.

Why Have Bidders Backed Out in the Past?

Over the years, global tenders were floated in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2018, and 2022. But the number of applicants have ranged from 101 in 2007, to none at some instances, and finally, the Adani Group was chosen out of three tenders that were received in 2022.

Explaining the reasons behind several developers backing out over the years, Chatterjee said that there needs to be more transparency in the process.

"Sometimes, in the discussions that take place, certain clear cut answers will not have emerged between the various partners. For example, consider there are 100 structures in an area that you have taken up to redevelop, you have to establish how many families are residing there and how many of them are eligible. How many of them are contesting their eligibility? How much time will it take to decide on the eligibility? Who decides on the eligibility and after the decision is made who decides to remove the person forcefully if he is ineligible? This, obviously, a private entity cannot do, that is the government's function," Chatterjee explained.

"Then there are issues of the person fighting it out in a court of law. Even if one single household doesn't move, or gets a stay from the court, that matter lingers on for some period of time," he added.

"How do you account for that time, because you have a timeframe within which you have to complete the project. Then obviously, there will be penalties for the developer too, if he doesn't perform in time," he said.

'Treat Dharavi as a Resettlement Project, Not a Commercial One'

Both Gaikwad and Chhatterjee said that no matter who takes up the project, the people of Dharavi need to be at the centre of it.

"The most important aspect that needs to be considered is that this is not a commercial project, but an integrated rehabilitation project. People say that the area is an extension of Bandra Kurla Complex, but that's not correct," Gaikwad said.

"When it comes to the technicalities, the respective committees will need to look into a lot of things. The survey needs to be done properly, the documentation of the families needs to be sorted out, there should be no man left behind. But unfortunately, people don't have proper documentation. So, helping them with that and making sure they cut the eligibility criteria, all these processes take time and that's why things have been stuck for 19 years," Gaikwad said.

"We strongly propose that nobody should have to go to a transit camp. The constructions should take place there and people should be moved immediately. People keep languishing in these transit camps once they are sent there," she added.

Stressing that the plan needs to be sustainable for the people in the long run, Gaikwad further highlighted on how, in slum redevelopment projects, the people who are moved to high rises cannot eventually bear the maintenance costs and move out.

"Our fight is not just for rehabilitation, but for sustainable rehabilitation," she added.