The consultant’s demand was discussed in a meeting of the sub-committee of senior bureaucrats on Tuesday—the sub-committee reports to the high-power committee headed by the chief secretary. The consultant—M M Project Consultants Pvt Ltd (MMPC)—have asked the government to bear the cost of overheads incurred because of the delay.

The project was scheduled to take off in 2004 and the MMPC was engaged by the government consultant. The firm was to get one per cent of the total project cost as fees. Of the total amount to be paid to it, 10 per cent was to be paid at the pre-tendering stage.

The project, however, has not taken off. The government is yet to pay the 10 per cent fully. The delays extending to over three years prompted the firm to approach the government to seek compensation for the increasing overheads. The firm pointed out that with the project failing to take off; it had to incur expenditure on its staff, office and equipment since 2004.

“They can demand anything they like, but that doesn’t mean that we have to give it,” a senior official said, admitting that the project had been delayed. “The delays will lead to cost escalations and attempts are being made to expedite the project.” The government is unlikely to accede to the request made by the consultant.

He, however, pointed out that the government was yet to move the SC to get permission to grant special status to hutments in Dharavi built up to 2000 so that they could be redeveloped on the lines of slums in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) projects. The cut-off year for regularisation of slums is 1995, but the redevelopment of slums that have come up between 1995 and 2000 and are blocking MMRDA projects. The state has decided to seek a similar status for about 18,000 hutments (which have come up between 1995 and 2000) in Dharavi, which has about 75,000 hutments. Since the hutments to be regularised are scattered, the project would not take off till they are regularised.

“We’ll file our plea in the Supreme Court soon, asking for special status for some of the hutments that have come up in Dharavi between 1995 and 2000,” the official said.