The Maharashtra government on Thursday rolled out a new plan to take Mumbai towards a slum-free status. Under this plan, over 18 lakh slum dwellers residing in slum tenements, that came up between 2000 and 2011, have now been guaranteed a replacement house. However, it will not be for free. All these residents would need to pay for the new housing using the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana’s interest subvention scheme. On Thursday, the state’s housing department issued a government resolution entitling all those residing in slum tenements existing prior January 1, 2011 for a replacement house. Earlier, on April 20 President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the modifications that the Maharashtra legislature had proposed to the Maharashtra Slum Act, 1971, to facilitate such a move.

Incidentally, the notification issued on Thursday states that the concession was also being extended to such hutment dwellers, who had earlier been evicted after being found ‘ineligible’ for rehabilitation in ongoing slum redevelopment schemes. According to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), more than 62 lakh people — or one-half of the city’s population — resides in 12.5 lakh slum tenements, collectively spread over just 8 per cent of Mumbai’s geographical area.

The Mumbai slum-free plan was kicked off in 1995, with the then Shiv Sena-BJP led government entitling hutments that had come up prior January 1, 1995 to a free replacement house. The Congress-NCP-led government later changed this cut-off date for free housing to January 1, 2000. With almost every second city resident living in a slum, government sources admitted that the proposal will have a major impact on the city’s social fabric and the infrastructure. Presently, only those residents of slums in dwelling units that are protected because they were there before January 1, 2000, are entitled for free rehabilitation in a redevelopment scheme.

....