Redevelopment of slums and MHADA buildings which until now had become synonymous with delays and developer apathy may soon become a lot smoother. In a move with far-reaching implications, the government has planned to bring such issues under the purview of the housing regulator MahaRera.
The government plans to submit a draft proposal to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a month's time, said Housing Minister Prakash Mehta. Once implemented, it is expected to tighten the noose on unscrupulous developers and positively impact the lives of at least 50-55 per cent of the city's population.
Nearly 41 per cent of Mumbaikars live in slum pockets, as per the 2011 Census. This apart, there are also 104 major colonies of the Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority (MHADA).
As per the government's slum rehabilitation scheme, slum colonies can be redeveloped by builders under the guidelines issued by the Slum rehabilitation Authority. SRA projects comprise a saleable portion, for fresh flat buyers, and another for rehabilitation of slum dwellers. In case of redevelopment of MHADA buildings too, the developer gets a saleable portion and has to construct free homes for existing tenants on the remaining area.
After the proposal is submitted to the CM, Mehta told DNA, the government will likely issue an executive order, also called Government Resolution, for its implementation. "In Mumbai alone there are about 1,800 slum rehabilitation projects of which 70 per cent are pending since last five years."
Of the MHADA colonies in the city, 56 are large ones with several buildings. "Tenants have been shifted out of the slums or MHADA buildings, but developers are delaying their project and neither paying the rent [for their temporary stay]." In some cases, the minister said, developers have sold their portion to investors but did not plough back the money to complete redevelopment in time.
Anand Gupta, a senior member of the Builders Association of India, said the move may not stand the test law on the grounds that MahaRERA's jurisdiction is limited to only those customers who pay to buy homes. ''In case of rehabilitation, the tenant gets the home free. If the government proposes to bring in rehabilitation portion in MahaRera then the order will be illegal.''
Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry Vice President (Navi Mumbai) Manohar Shroff, however, said the efforts will put checks and balances to push developers to complete the rehabilitation portion in a time-bound manner.
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