Special cell of MHADA issues pending OCs

REPRIEVE FOR 40 NEHRU NAGAR TENEMENTS AS

A week after three special cells were formed by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) for easy approval, occupational certificates (OCs) have been issued to at least 40 tenements of a housing society in Nehru Nagar, Kurla.

The civic body had issued completion certificates (CCs) to these tenements, but the OCs were pending. “These new cells have been operational since June 1 and were planned in order to hasten the process of building plan approvals,” said a MHADA official.

The MHADA officials said the tenements received the CCs from the civic body in 2016. “The formation of these special cells has helped improve the process of building plan approvals. We were able to provide the tenements with the OC within four days after the cells were formed,” said a MHADA official. Now, officials are in the process of issuing OCs to housing societies in areas of Andheri, Borivli, Ghatkopar, Mulund and Bandra.

These three special cells have been formed in order to ease the process pertaining to permissions related to building constructions and layouts. The cells will specifically be formed for sanctioning layouts in stage one, clearing building proposals and finally, a separate cell will be made for giving permission under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) scheme. The step comes after the recent notification from the state government, which stated that MHADA would be the Special Planning Authority (SPA) for redevelopment and building construction projects.

“Earlier, we had to take permissions from the civic body for related sanctioning of building projects, Floor Space Index (FSI) and layout plans. As a result, it would take longer to receive approvals for important projects,” added the official. Officials said it took at least 10 years for the civic body to sanction the redevelopment projects in the DN Nagar area.

“We do not want projects to remain stuck due to nonapproval of building layout. As MHADA has been appointed as an SPA for redevelopment projects, we hope to speed up the pace of building plan approvals,” added the official.

The formation of these special cells has helped improve the process of building plan approvals. We were able to provide the tenements with the OC within four days after the cells were formed

— MHADA OFFICIAL