Ahead of revamp, ‘Digital survey' of Dharavi to begin on March 18

Mumbai: In a milestone development, the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt. Ltd. (DRPPL) will embark on a ‘digital survey’ of lakhs of informal slum residents of Dharavi on March 18, officials said.

The DPPL -- a joint venture between the Adani Group and Maharashtra government -- will create a ‘Digital Dharavi’, or an advanced library of one of the world’s largest slum settlements.

It will be used by the state government to determine the rehabilitation eligibility criteria of this chunk of Dharavi residents in the proposed redevelopment project.

The survey by DRPPL and the state government will be one of the largest urban rejuvenation projects in the world, and will be the first step towards making Mumbai ‘slum-free’, said an official spokesperson for the joint venture.

"It is the beginning of transforming Dharavi into a world-class township, a state-of-the-art city within Mumbai. We urge all Dharavikars to support this exercise, which will enable us to execute the rehabilitation process and ultimately provide them with their dream home,” said the DRPPL spokesperson.

The digital survey will begin from the Kamla Raman Nagar, and a unique number shall be given to each informal tenement, followed by a laser mapping of the respective lane, known as ‘Lidar Survey', and a trained team will visit every tenement with an indigenously developed application to scan the documents.

The DRPPL has also activated a toll-free helpline number (1800-268-8888) to respond to the queries and concerns of the Dharavikars, the spokesperson added.

For decades, Dharavikars have been waiting for redevelopment to move into their dream homes and commercial establishments, and the digital survey marks the process of transforming Dharavi into a world-class township that will reshape the destiny of lakhs of residents.

Every informal tenement holder will be given a home, and for the very first time in such a project, homes will be provided to the qualified ineligible tenement holders too.

Recently, the DRPPL announced that as per the DRP tender, all eligible and ineligible resident tenement holders will get a flat with an independent kitchen and toilet.

Besides, eligible industrial and commercial units in the redeveloped Dharavi will enjoy a five-year holiday in State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) payment to boost and help formalise their businesses, which is also as per the tender conditions (IANS, February 26).

Dharavi encompasses several thousands of industrial and commercial units manufacturing garments and leather items, with many being vendors for large national and international brands sold across the world, with a turnover estimated to be in millions of dollars.

They are keen to formalise their businesses to expand and get a fillip, both locally and globally. The DRPPL has engaged world-renowned city and infrastructure planning experts – the US-based design firm Sasaki, and the UK-based town planners Buro Happold – to design a world-class city in place of Dharavi.

The DRPPL said it will endeavour to transform and upgrade the lives of Dharavikars by providing them with modern housing while preserving their inherent entrepreneurial spirit.

It will be a human-centric transformation, rebuilding spaces and reinventing the very essence of community living, dovetailing state-of-the-art imperatives of transportation connectivity, electricity, water, and internet while enabling a hygienic environment with civic amenities.