SRD’s awkward comforts

MUMBAI, Oct 1: When Patamma Raj, a resident of Bhagat Singh Nagar slum colony in Goregaon (W) acquired a marble kitchen platform, bathroo...

MUMBAI, Oct 1: When Patamma Raj, a resident of Bhagat Singh Nagar slum colony in Goregaon (W) acquired a marble kitchen platform, bathroom, grilled sliding windows and tiled flooring with her brand new 225-sq ft dwelling in Madhav building, she brought along something she could not afford to accommodate in her former cluttered hutment – an attitude. “Now, we receive water for only a fixed duration whereas in our slum, supply was practically uninterrupted since we had access to the pipelines,” is her ironical comment.

From a shanty to a highrise, from unsanitary conditions to upward mobility it was a giant leap for another 51 families living in Bhagat Singh Nagar slum colony as they received the keys to their free abodes in Goregaon today and joined 96 of their neighbours. Yet for some, gratitude had place for attitude.

Old habits die hard and for Patamma, whose five-member family once barely fitted into a roadside shanty alongside an open nullah, thank goodness for that. She has not forgotten how toimprovise for space. The wash basin in her pucca home at Goregaon is crammed with books and other knick-knacks. However, Patamma is also very happy. Her three children now have “clean environment” to live in. “Sickness is under control,” she says.

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For other 95 occupants of Madhav building, the first of the six structures completed and handed over to slumdwellers by Dattani builders last November, the transition from the pavement to apartment houses has had been just as awkward. Sliding windowpanes, grills for security, concealed wiring, a shower in the bathroom and built-in toilets are novelties. And most are still getting accustomed to their new lifestyle.“Most residents leave the tap water running for hours,” says I Swami, owning Flat No 4 . But electricity is now sparingly used. “We have to pay the bills, don’t we,” says K P Raj as his family sits in dimly lit room in the afternoon.

While the state government’s ambitious and controversial Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp (SSPP) free housing schemewades in troubled waters, at the low-profile function attended by the local MLA Nandkumar Kale, 51 free houses in the second of the six buildings were handed over at Goregaon Link Roadtoday. The remaining buildings, each seven-storey high with 96 flats, are still under construction and will take another two years to complete.

The remaining 45 flats in the second building were also scheduled for handover today but for the occupants getting fussy. “The rest have decided to move in within a week after the lift starts functioning,” said Dharmesh Paun, a representative of the builders, who organised the function.

Satish Dattani, the builder who had acquired the encroached land from its private owner 12 years ago, is rehabilitating 383 slumdwellers and 220 project-affected people under other infrastructure schemes of the state government on the Goregaon plot.