Six years after it was first proposed, a BMC project to provide housing quarters for all safai karmacharis or conservancy workers is now likely to take off with the state government working towards issuing a final notification to make way for a higher Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4 for the project. There are 28,000 safai karmahcaris in Mumbai who work for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sweeping the city’s streets, collecting and disposing garbage. Of these, less than a 20 per cent currently have houses in civic quarters, most of which are decrepit and unhygienic. Last month, Mumbai Newsline had visited Panchsheel Nagar, one such colony in Colaba, and highlighted the deplorable state of toilets without taps and water and grossly inadequate for its 150-odd residents. An official from the state’s urban development department said, “We had received the proposal from the BMC prior to the Assembly elections. There is also a proposal with the department seeking an FSI of 4 for police housing. Hence, senior officials are considering whether it would be better to have a common provision for a higher FSI for government staff quarters. However, no final decision has been taken on this yet. We are moving the file for the conservancy workers’ quarters for a decision. From here on, it should take about a month for the final notification to be issued.” The official added that currently, government staff quarters are eligible for 50 per cent more FSI than the permissible FSI of 1 in the suburbs. In the city, the standard FSI of 1.33 prevails. FSI refers to the extent of construction permitted on a given plot size. In 2008, the BMC came up with a proposal to invest its own funds and construct staff quarters with an area of 300 square feet each on a cash-contract basis to house all 28,000 conservancy workers on its land in the city. Of the 36 locations that house the existing quarters, 17 are in the island city, 10 in the western suburbs and 9 in the eastern suburbs. Due to unavailability of adequate land, the civic body had proposed an FSI of 4 for the project, for which the state government will have to introduce a provision in the city’s development control regulations. However, due to several hurdles and changes in the administration, the project never took off. With many of the existing colonies in a dilapidated condition, the civic body accelerated the project last year after the Babu Genu Market building collapsed that killed 61 people and injured 33 others. Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte said, “Reconstructing these colonies and providing housing quarters to all conservancy workers, with each apartment having its own toilet, is the only permanent solution. We are keen on starting the project soon and are pursuing with the state government for an approval.” The BMC, which internally cleared the conservancy workers’ housing project in December last year, published a draft notification in January 2014 seeking suggestions and objections on its proposal to introduce a provision for a higher FSI. Thereafter, the civic body submitted the proposal to the urban development department in April. The department received consent from the office of the Director of Town Planning in August, prior to the Assembly elections. manasi.phadke@expressindia.com
