DRPPL begins survey in Dharavi to make Mumbai ‘slum-free’

Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL), a joint venture between Adani Realty and the state government, began a survey in the area on Monday to collect data from lakhs of informal residents of Dharavi for what is said to be “the largest urban rejuvenation projects in the world” and “the first step towards making Mumbai slum-free.”

“The survey for Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) and Government of Maharashtra marks the beginning of one of the largest urban rejuvenation projects in the world and is the first step towards making Mumbai slum-free. It is the beginning of transforming Dharavi into a world-class township, a state-of-the-art city within Mumbai. We urge all Dharavikars to support this exercise, which will enable us to execute the rehabilitation process and ultimately provide them with their dream home,” said a DRPPL spokesperson.

SVR Srinivas, the officer on special duty (OSD) at Dharavi Redevelopment Project, said, “This is an important day for us. It is the basis of this survey that all our future development will happen. We have begun numbering houses with unique IDs. Our teams will conduct socio-economic surveys of all households.”

A survey was conducted in 2008, but the criteria were different then. “In the earlier survey, the upper structure was not calculated. We will provide free houses under the scheme to all ground floor structures protected as per government policies. The tenants on upper floors will have to opt for hire purchase under the rental housing scheme, which will be conducted on salt pan lands,” Srinivas said.

The data will be used by the state government to determine the rehabilitation eligibility criteria under the proposed redevelopment project. The survey will also create, for the first time ever, a ‘Digital Dharavi,’ an advanced library of one of the world’s largest informal settlements.

The survey began from Kamla Raman Nagar, with a unique number being given to each informal tenement. This will be followed by laser mapping of the respective lane, known as ‘Lidar Survey.’ A trained team will visit every tenement with an indigenously developed application to scan documents.

A toll-free number (1800-268-8888) has been activated to respond to the queries and concerns of Dharavikars.