Articles by Rahul Kadri

Mumbai has over 16,000 cessed and dilapidated buildings — some close to a hundred years old — that must be redeveloped. On May 14, 2023, the state government announced that it would constitute a separate authority to push for self-redevelopment of such buildings — a solution to the city’s housing crisis that involves societies of residents living in these buildings undertaking the redevelopment.  Deputy chief minister and housing minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government has set up a particular cell for self-redevelopment to ensure that proposals are approved within three months and deemed conveyance — a significant requirement for such…

Potholes on roads are a menace for every Mumbaikar – car drivers, bikers and pedestrians. Every year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims to fill hundreds of potholes during monsoons, yet they seem to crop up the following season and continue to be a safety hazard. In addition to slowing down traffic, the poor quality of roads is also responsible for several accidents and even deaths. Last monsoon, two deaths were reported within two weeks due to accidents caused by potholes. These daunting numbers call for immediate attention. To address the issue, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra recently re-invited bids…

Across the globe, numerous cities have reaped the benefits of citizen-led urban planning proposals. Such initiatives consider the needs and aspirations of citizens, ensuring the effective use of open spaces and resources. For instance, in 2013, the Metropolitan Government of Seoul designed an urban regeneration policy focused on improving public, open spaces within the city through active citizen engagement, collaboration, and participation. Today, it is the 3rd best city in Asia. In a similar effort to revitalise the Nepean Sea Road in Mumbai, the Nepean Sea Road Citizens’ Forum has put forth a proposal to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to redesign a 2.7-km…

With accelerating climate change and rising sea levels due to global warming, there has been a significant disruption in hydrological cycles globally. Heavy rainfall and flooding regularly inundates most of our cities, destroying natural and infrastructural ecosystems. Mumbai, home to around 20 million people, is no different. The monsoon downpours bring the city to a standstill year after year. There is also the threat of cyclones and storms from the Arabian Sea such as Takutae earlier this year – those that can potentially cause havoc in the coastal city. Why is it that the city is not equipped to deal…

In September 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) refused permission to Maharashtra’s state and district central co-operative banks (DCCBs) to finance self-redevelopment of co-operative housing societies, stating that such projects would fall under the category of ‘commercial real estate,’ and hence, outside the banks’ primary purview of lending for activities related to agriculture and rural development. For the Maharashtra government, which was banking on support from the state’s co-operative banking ecosystem, this is as a huge blow to a scheme it had presented late last year as the solution to the state’s, and more specifically, Mumbai’s housing crisis. Meanwhile,…

The coronavirus outbreak has shined a spotlight on the often overlooked underbelly of India’s ‘City of Dreams’ –– the slums and other informal settlements where about 49 percent of its population resides. Within these neighbourhoods, unusually high population densities - up to 350 families per hectare against the city average of 38 as per data from the 2011 Census - and poor drinking water and sanitation facilities give rise to unhealthy living conditions.  So what is the future of slums in a post-COVID-19 world? Can we formalise the informal? Migrating to urban centres Cities are envisaged as the hub of…