Arvind Sawant seeks President’s nod on law to redevelop Mhada buildings
LAST SEPT, THE LEGISLATURE HAD PASSED AN AMENDMENT ALLOWING MHADA TO REDEVELOP DILAPIDATED AND CESSED BLDGS TO PROTECT TENANTS
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP) and former Union minister Arvind Sawant has appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi seeking the President’s assent to a legislation passed by the Maharashtra legislature.
Last September, the state legislature had passed an amendment allowing the Maharashtra Housing Area and Development Authority (Mhada) to redevelop or repair dilapidated and cessed buildings to protect the interest of the occupants of such structures.
Both the Houses of the legislature had passed an amendment in the Mhada Act, 1976, empowering the authority take over the cessed buildings, with consent of 51% occupants, if the owners and housing societies fail to redevelop them within a year of notification.
In two separate letters dated June 12, the Sena MP from south Mumbai said, “…this amendment will definitely protect the lives of the people who are residing in these dilapidated buildings. Nearly 16,000 buildings fall under the category of cess buildings in Mumbai. Some of these cess buildings, [some of] which are nearly 100 years old, are on the lands of MBPT (Mumbai Port Trust), NTC (National Textile Corporation), LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) and other organisations which neither repair nor redevelop them and do not allow even the government authorities such as Mhada to carry out the redevelopment.”
Cessed buildings are old, tenanted properties that were built before 1969, for which residents are required to pay a cess to Mhada for maintenance. The city witnesses collapse of such dilapidated structures, especially during monsoon.
The letter was written after a building in Malvani area killed 12 people, including eight children.
Referring to the Malvani tragedy, Sawant said, “This proves how essential is the approval to the amendment of the Act and how the Act is important as the lives of citizens living in such structures are at stake.”