Draft rules: use public finances,develop on CRZ-2 land

The Ministry of Environment and Forests issued the draft CRZ notification last week,the culmination of a five-year-long exercise to fortify the existing norms. Listing Mumbai and Navi Mumbai as areas requiring “special consideration”,the notification spells out separate regulations to cater to “the need to provide decent housing to the poor section of the people”.

Easing earlier restrictions,the new rules allow redevelopment of buildings by using the full permissible FSI,or floor space index. The dilution will,however,be allowed only if “public finance is made available for such redevelopment schemes,so that such developments can be used for meeting the needs of existing household without compromising the ecological safety”.

Slum settlements in CRZ-II areas can now go in for SRA (rehabilitation) schemes using the additional FSI allowed,again with the rider on public finances.

State urban development secretary TC Benjamin said the revision would allow schemes such as SRA,redevelopment of cessed structures and cluster redevelopment in such areas. “But there can be no private intervention in the form of the private-public-participation model that is followed for most of these projects today. Since it is nearly impossible for the government to provide free housing as in case of SRA,we will have to do a rethink and arrive at a formula whereby the beneficiaries also contribute marginally toward the scheme.”

CRZ-II comprises land,close to or on the shoreline,which has been substantially developed on. Existing norms allow no new construction on the seaward side of the road in such areas. Landward,reconstruction of existing structures must maintain the same FSI as before.

Large parts of Mumbai are in CRZ-II; this has stunted redevelopment of thousands of old buildings in South Mumbai well as slums pockets in Malvani and Malad West,and plush areas like Juhu,Versova,Bandra Reclamation,Walkeshwar,Cuffe Parade and Colaba.

“There are in all 60 lakh people living in the 13 lakh shanties across Mumbai. Roughly 15 per cent would be in CRZ-II areas,” said SS Zende,SRA chief executive officer. This works out to 1.95 lakh hutments.

State officials will now look at the possibility of dovetailing schemes like SRA to the BSUP (basic services for urban poor) model where the construction and infrastructure costs are shared between the government,the local body (the BMC or the housing board) and the beneficiaries (about 10 per cent).