Month-long drive begins to regularise ownership in Mumbai’s stalled slum redevelopment projects
The Maharashtra government introduced the amnesty scheme for slum dwellers in October 2024 and later extended it due to low participation.
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SRA in Mumbai recently initiated a month-long campaign to help slum dwellers regularise ownership under an amnesty scheme. (File)The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in Mumbai recently initiated a month-long campaign to help slum dwellers regularise ownership under an amnesty scheme, with ten camps set up for residents to submit documents without visiting the SRA office.
The campaign will include the names of prospective buyers in Annexure-2, which is the government’s list of eligible beneficiaries for homes in redeveloped buildings. Buyers only in Annexure-2 are eligible for allotment under the slum rehabilitation plans. There were long delays and legal suits for several of these redevelopment projects, as the names of several buyers were not registered in government records.
The Maharashtra government launched the amnesty scheme in October 2024 for three months to address the problem of unregistered transfer of ownership in slum buildings. However, due to low awareness and a poor response, the scheme was extended in March 2025. With this month-long campaign, the SRA aims to enhance outreach and stimulate greater participation, according to officials.
A senior SRA official said customers who purchased slum buildings prior to January 1, 2011, in halted redevelopment schemes are eligible for benefits under the scheme. “The exercise is being conducted to verify such buyers properly and update their names in Annexure-2 so that projects can move ahead without any more controversies,” the official said.
The issue of transfer of ownership arises because many original allottees, discouraged by delays, dispose of their buildings. But the existing policy does not facilitate the automatic addition of the buyer’s name in Annexure-2. This results in conflicts, interference during eviction and in certain cases, court proceedings that hold up the entire redevelopment process.
Various government agencies, including the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC), and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), are mandated by the SRA to implement these schemes.
The official also said the backlog in confirming and revising beneficiary data has been a hindrance to the implementation of the scheme.
“Applications and documents gathered at the camps during this drive will be assessed by officials, and names of eligible residents shall be incorporated in Annexure-2. We request all residents of slums to take part in this ongoing drive and undertake the required formalities so that further delays in redevelopment do not occur,” the official said.
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