Why is freeing up land an issue?

The proposals to unlock hitherto-untouchable land parcels have run into criticism from its drafting days.

Buffer zones of mangroves, mudflats and creeks were designated as No Development Zones in the 1991 plan, but the authorities have earmarked 2,100 hectares of such land for affordable housing.

The logic: these zones were not supposed to be locked away forever. Another 330 hectares of saltpan lands will be diverted from the Mumbai Port Trust’s reserves.

 The Aarey Colony remains a green zone, but 300 acres has been set aside for a Metro Rail car shed, a second zoo and the rehabilitation of tribal. Besides, 14.96 sq. km. of virgin land (mangroves) has been included as Natural Areas, which will be left untouched.

Will it ease civic woes?

Despite Mumbai’s huge population, the total area under housing is just about 22% and the city’s planners want to make that 50%.

The area reserved per capita for open spaces, educational institutions and offices will increase, but is still woefully short of international norms.

 In order to add to the existing open spaces, a 300-acre garden will be developed on reclaimed land at Cuffe Parade on the lines of New York’s Central Park. Another such garden will be developed by the Mumbai Port Trust at Sewree.

While this may be a particularly extreme example of urban growth, the UN predicts that by 2030, two-thirds of the global population will live in cities. In many urban centers there is already a shortage of space and expanding outwards isn’t always an option.

As a result, like never before, cities are going vertical.

Future of  housing 

MVRDV Amanora Apartment City - Future Towers

Apartment City - Future Towers in Pune, India. Developed by City Corporation - a leading real estate development corporation in the Indian state of Maharashtra - the new towers will be comprised of 3,500 apartments and public amenities to complete a large scale mixed-use housing development totaling 4.3 million square feet. 

the Maharashtra government has repeatedly promised to engage builders to house low-income residents through incentives like additional FSI and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), where developers can purchase the development rights of certain parcels and transfer it to another.

But these interventions have repeatedly failed.

“Today, if you take all the housing programs from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) they haven’t produced housing stock for more than 5% (of the low-income class population),” says Sheela Patel, Director, The Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC).

Since 1986, SPARC has been at the forefront in fighting for housing and infrastructure rights for the urban poor in Mumbai.  

Despite grandiose political promises, only about 2 lakh public housing units have been added to the housing stock, whereas Mumbai needs at least 11.36 lakh houses as of today, according to an affordable housing report by the Praja Foundation.

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