SoBo to get cheaper homes with revamp of BDD chawls

Giving a push to the much-delayed redevelopment of the century-old BDD chawls six months before Mumbai goes to polls, the BJP-led Maharashtra government has framed fresh regulation for the project, which promises to create 61.63 lakh square feet of additional housing stock in the island city for affordable housing.

The state government has proposed to offer free houses of 500 sqft each to all tenants of BDD chawls as part of the redevelopment scheme, which would be the city’s second-largest after the stalled Dharavi revamp. The plan to offer 500-sqft houses for free to the residents would be the state’s highest-ever compensation to be given in any redevelopment project in the city.

“The project is proposed to be implemented on the lines of the cluster redevelopment scheme for the legal tenants of all BDD chawls. The slums on the BDD chawl property would be redeveloped according to the provisions of the city’s slum redevelopment scheme,” said an official from the state urban development department.

The project will be given a floor space index (FSI) of 4 or an additional construction area of 55% of the area required to rehabilitate the existing tenants, whichever is more.

This is in line with the city’s cluster redevelopment scheme. FSI refers to the ratio of the permissible built-up area to the plot area.