Realty check: Mhada does not have record of landholding in city

How can Mhada, which boasts of such a huge landholding, be without records? It is time to find out our land inventory. UDAY SAMANT, president, Mhada

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) may boast of significant land bank, but it does not have a record of its entire landholding in Mumbai.

This fact may prove detrimental for Mhada which is currently one of the main agencies in charge of providing low-cost housing. Uday Samant, president, Mhada, who recently assumed office, said he was shocked that Mhada has no record of its inventory. “How can Mhada, which boasts of such a huge landholding, be without records? It is time to find out our land inventory and hence, I have ordered officials to provide me the information within the next fortnight,” said Samant.

Samant also said after identifying the land parcels, the next step would be to start construction in whatever land parcel is available. “We need to exploit whatever land we have so that people can get low-cost houses. For majority of homebuyers, Mhada is the only hope to get houses in Mumbai.”

In the last ten draws, 14.13 lakh applicants applied for the 23,742 houses that were put up for sale.

Housing activists have pointed that this situation will have an adverse impact on affordable housing schemes. “If Mhada has no record, it will only result in encroachments and creation of slum pockets on its lands. How can it carry out affordable housing schemes when it does not have any record?” said housing expert Ramesh Prabhu.

He also warned that this will impact the government’s aim of providing ‘Housing for all by 2022’.

Mhada which was formed to provide low-cost houses to public has been able to construct 3,901 buildings in the city so far. It has 108 colonies in the city. However, over the past year years, the agency has doled out land to various trusts and associations which have misused the same, thus depriving homebuyers of affordable houses.

Mhada’s plan to get its share of houses from its colonies when they go for revamp has also not been successful.

Additionally, in the past few years, private builders also jacked up real estate prices to exorbitant levels because of which homebuyers have postponed their purchase plans.