Mumbai, Sep 12 (IANS): Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Limited (DRPPL) on Thursday performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project on railway land at the RPF Grounds in Matunga.

This is a part of the 45-acre railway land, which has been handed over to the state-run Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP).

Around 850 residential staff quarters and offices for Railways will be constructed on the railway land.

DRPPL will also have to construct around 3,000 rehab tenements for slum dwellers who are currently situated on the railway land.

A DRPPL source said that Thursday's ceremony was in keeping with the tender conditions and also the first step in the group's commitment to create a modern Dharavi.

"We are redeveloping one of the most densely populated clusters in the world. We have committed to providing Dharavikars with a 'key to key' exchange wherein existing residents have been guaranteed new homes within a stipulated time frame and without shifting to a temporary accommodation."

The state government-led door-to-door survey to determine eligible and ineligible residents is in sync with an idea to speed up the redevelopment and ensure inclusive development.

The Dharavi Redevelopment project envisages providing 350 square feet of modern homes with kitchens and toilets to the Dharavikars with amenities such as top-class roads, hospitals, schools and open spaces.

These homes are 17 per cent extra than any other slum rehabilitation project in Mumbai.

At least 10 lakh people are set to get bigger, modern homes and high-class amenities that have eluded them for generations.

The redevelopment will benefit scores of small-scale enterprises in Dharavi that have created a thriving informal economy but are forced to live and work in abysmal conditions.