Housing body delays an affordable project

Even as the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) is facing land scarcity which has resulted in the least number of flats being placed in the lottery this year, it is yet to issue tenders for the construction of an affordable housing project on a 15-acre plot at Goregaon. The entire project will yield more than 4000 houses which the authority will include in its lottery. The houses are being planned for the Economically Weaker Section and the Lower Income Group.

A city developer had moved the Bombay High Court to seek possession of the plot and even tried to settle with the authority for a 60:40 policy, where he would get 40 percent of the land and the rest would be handed over to the state.

The Goregaon plot near Inorbit Mall was mired in a controversy after the developer claimed that the plot was owned by them, however, the High Court ruled that the plot belonged to the housing body. Following this, the MHADA assured that it will soon issue tenders for the construction of the project. There were more than 2000 encroacher on the land which the MHADA has cleared so far. Despite completing the survey and drafting the entire plan of the project, the authority is yet to issue tenders of the project. According to sources in MHADA said that the project is being eyed by several developers since the plot is located at a prime location of the city.

The authority has submitted its plan to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and has directed the Goregaon division to issue tenders for the project. A senior MHADA official said, “The project is in the tendering process and we will soon issue tenders. The project will give us a major housing stock which will be used for the lottery.”

Officials confirmed that there are no newly constructed flats for this year’s lottery. Most of the flats in the lottery were leftovers of previous lotteries. The Mumbai board is also planning to take nearly 153 flats of the master list from the Mumbai Repair and Reconstruction Board (MRRB) which will be included in the lottery.

MHADA officials said that there are no newly constructed flats for this year’s lottery. Most of the flats in the lottery were leftovers of previous lotteries