So far 14,224 families or over 85 percent of residents, living in the slums in Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar in Ghatkopar have been found eligible for the housing project to be undertaken by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and MMRDA underwent a joint agreement wherein the SRA was responsible to carry out survey work to prepare a list of eligible tenants whereas MMRDA will carry out the redevelopment project following the proposed expansion project of the Eastern Freeway from Cheddha Nagar in Ghatkopar up to Thane. According to an SRA official, a comprehensive survey was conducted over the past five months and during this period, they visited each household to verify residents' documents. "A final list of eligible beneficiaries was released on Thursday, marking a significant step forward in the redevelopment efforts. Now, only those who have been confirmed eligible will proceed to the next stages of the project. While the families who have not submitted valid documents to the SRA, they will have another two months time to do so ,"emphasised the SRA official. The MMRDA on March 5 received approval from CM Eknath Shinde in the authority meeting to carry out Ghatkopar's Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar slum redevelopment project. The project is set to clear land for extension of Eastern Freeway till Thane to be developed at the cost of around Rs 3,200 crore approximately. In the redevelopment project, 33.15 hectares of land will be redeveloped to rehabilitate a total 16,575 slum dwellers of Ramabai Nagar area. The project is aimed to provide housing to the slum occupants and is believed to improve the standard of living of people living in slums currently. It is the first slum redevelopment project to be taken up by MMRDA. Along with this, approximately additional 5,000 flats will be available to the MMRDA under this scheme. The Ramabai Nagar Slum redevelopment project will generate 75 lakh sq ft of built-up area for commercial sale, with the expected revenue from this developed space being around Rs 10,000 crore, as per MMRDA.
