State’s assurance is not feasible: SRA

The state government’s assurance to tweak the rule of giving same amenities and utilising 50 per cent of the plot area for rehabilitation is not practically feasible, said senior officials at Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). They also said that the assurance given by the state housing minister Prakash Mehta of setting pre-condition to the builders would not be helpful for SRA.

“The modern amenities like that of a clubhouse and a gymnasium granted in commercially exploitable segment at times is given by the builders after using the Floor Space Index (FSI) for which it later charges the buyer directly or indirectly. But when it comes to the rehabilitation segment, things are not same because builders have to set the target at creating maximum houses for the rehabilitation and everything is given for free,” said a top SRA bureaucrat not wishing to be named.

Earlier this month, the state government had assured in the assembly that the available land in slum rehabilitation projects would be used equally for both the rehab segment and for the commercial segment.

“Currently, we are practising 45 per cent ratio for the rehab and 55 per cent for the commercially exploitable segment and at times it also depends on the density of slums depending from one plot to another. There many plots near the airport area where the density of slums is more which means accommodating becomes troublesome and the ratio for rehab segment here goes up to 60 per cent followed by 40 per cent for the commercial segment,” said Aseem Gupta, chief executive officer, SRA.

However, Chandrashekhar Prabhu, housing activist, said, “If we take a look at the maximum projects rehabilitated by the SRA in the city, we will realise that in very few projects more than 25 per cent of the plot area is used for rehab segment and when it comes to providing amenities such as clubhouse and gymnasium, it can be constructed in the compound area and not inside the building because for such amenities FSI is given for free.” He further added, “Feasibility is just an excuse to let the builders take advantage of it.”