MHADA stalls review of redevelopment contracts
The state housing authority has put brakes on reviewing stalled restoration contracts for some of the city’s oldest buildings and cracking the whip on delinquent developers, even though several decaying building collapses across the city.
‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOCs) for at least 18 cessed buildings have been cancelled by the repair and reconstruction board of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), where the permit was given before 2004 but the redevelopment had been delayed. The main reason behind it was to slip contracts wherever projects have been jammed so that residents are free to make new redevelopment agreements either with MHADA or through a private developer.
Chief Officer of MHADA’s repair board, M K Thombare alleged that we are going slowly and there has not been much growth on this front. MHADA organised hearings with residents and developers and took action in the first few cases, the issue was taken up for argument in the state Assembly, as per a senior official.
He added, for one of the project we have cancelled the NOC and after discussion it was decided that the matter should be stayed for now. We haven’t yet reverted the status of the cancelled contracts, on paper, but after that we didn’t take up any more projects for re-evaluation and termination either.
The buildings which were located in the areas of Fort, Bhuleshwar, Malabar Hill, Cumbala Hill, Lalbaug, Parel, Mahim and Dadar ,for that MHADA had taken action and cancelled NOCs. They incorporated structures such as Daginawala mansion in Mahim, Tawadia mansion in the Fort division, Amrut Niwas at Dadar, KK Modiwadi chawl in Sewri and Meghwadi at Lalbaug.
MHADA’s repair board dispatched notices between October and December 2012 to NOC holders for 85 projects where redevelopment contracts of cessed buildings were firmed up before 2004, but the projects were unfinished.
Presently about 14,000 cessed buildings are there in the city and redevelopment has been lethargic. Mumbai Transformation Support Unit did a study which completed in 2012, only concerning 8 per cent of all cessed buildings were redeveloped ever since 1999.
Source: The Indian Express
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