Ahmedabad's Hollywood set to grow taller!

GANDHINAGAR: Ahmedabad's landmark slums, Gulbai Tekra which earned the moniker 'Hollywood' in Navrangpura, will finally wrap up and grow skywards, freeing up land in the posh locality. The urban development department has finally approved redevelopment of this slum cluster under the ambit of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY).
For several decades now, this community of Baori adivasis plonked right in midst of a posh locality, running a thriving industry of making plaster of paris Lord Ganesha idols which are sold not just in Gujarat but across India.It's an important means of livelihood here and residents have been demanding workspace as a mandatory incentives for them to be rehabilitated.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has finally agreed to safeguard their livelihood concerns by incorporating special work area while designing multi-storied low-income homes.
In all, a total of 503 slum units in Gulbai Tekra will be rehabilitated. "We have already had three rounds of meetings with community members. The whole PMAY scheme is about participation of stakeholders. We are considering their livelihood issues, including the work space they require which will be made an integral part of the rehabilitation cluster design. Else, this rehab project will fail," admitted municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra.
Lochan Sahera, secretary, urban housing said, "Private developers under PMAY policy will benefit as the land is in a prime location for commercial development. They will also get additional FSI as per the slum rehabilitation policy."
‘Redevelopment of Gulbai Tekra will solve issues like traffic, cleanliness’
Sahera added that redevelopment of Gulbai Tekra or Hollywood will solve issues like traffic, cleanliness and not affect their livelihoods. Senior officials of the AMC’s estate department point towards the peculiar case of Gulbai Tekra slums, as nearly 40% to 50% of it is situated on private land. “A private developer in 2010, who owns the disputed piece of land, had proposed to build a seven-storied EWS housing for free, but the government had no incentives like TDR or part compensation for slum encroachment on privately owned land and the plan was dropped,” says the estate department official.The private land on which part of Gulbai Tekra is situated went into legal dispute after AMC showed the area as part of government land in its records.