Mumbai: The Adani Group-led Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL), which is redeveloping Dharavi, has approached the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to secure environmental clearance to construct rehabilitation tenements at the 19-acre Mother Dairy plot in Kurla, which has hundreds of trees.
The now-defunct Mother Dairy plant next to Kurla’s Nehru Nagar is one of the five plots on which NMDPL will construct tenements for Dharavi residents who are ineligible for rehabilitation in Dharavi itself and for free sale in the real estate market. The other four plots are at Malad East, Deonar, Mulund, and Matunga. The Kurla plot is the first one whose possession was given to NMDPL by the Maharashtra government.
According to a source privy to the plan, NMDPL has sent a proposal to the SEIAA to secure environmental clearance to begin construction on the plot. Last year, an application was made with the government agency to secure permission to construct renewal units on railway land in Mahim and Matunga.
Ten buildings with multiple wings will be erected on the Kurla plot, the source said. The buildings cannot have more than 18 storeys because the Kurla plot lies in the Mumbai airport’s funnel zone, which is the airspace around the flight approach paths where buildings have height restrictions.
The plot is spread over 76,993 square metres (828745.75 square feet or 19 acres), the source said. NMDPL plans to use 496,000 sq m of the plot area for construction, while 15% or 11,559 sq m of the plot area will be an open space—a reserved garden, the source added. The plot is split into two by the Santacruz Chembur Link Road. The Kurla East metro station on the Metro 2B line is under construction right outside the plot.
“Construction of all rehabilitation units needs to be completed within seven years from the date of issuance of the commencement certificate for the first phase of the project,” said SVR Srinivas, chairman of NMDPL. The Dharavi redevelopment project had received its first commencement certificate in January to initiate the construction of rehabilitation units on a 6.4-acre railway plot at Matunga. NMDPL did not respond to HT’s questions about the environmental clearance it has sought for the Kurla plot.
According to residents, using the plot to construct homes would involve axing hundreds of trees. “We had surveyed the plot and counted around 900 trees. We believe the actual number is likely to be over 1,000,” said Kiran Pailwan of Lok Chalwal, a residents’ organisation protesting against rehabilitating ineligible Dharavikars in Kurla.
According to a government resolution issued on October 4, 2024, residents of Dharavi who are ineligible for in situ rehabilitation will get a 300 sq ft unit in Mumbai but outside Dharavi. This will be on a hire-purchase basis—paying rent for 25 years and then getting ownership of the housing unit. If the individual wants to purchase the unit before 25 years, they will be permitted to do so a year after getting possession. The rent and purchase prices are yet to be determined by the government.
NMDPL is a special-purpose vehicle in which the Adani Group holds an 80% stake, while the Maharashtra government controls the remaining 20%.
