1,800 of 9,140 Mhada homes likely for cops, govt staffers

The state is likely to reserve more than 1,800 of 9,140 flats constructed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) at Thane, Navi Mumbai

The state is likely to reserve more than 1,800 of 9,140 flats constructed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) at Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan, for police constables and Class 4 government employees.

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Last week, state housing minister Jitendra Awhad had announced that the government would soon make changes in the state’s housing policy and get the cabinet nod to facilitate 20% reservations for constables and government employees in Mhada.

The lottery system to allot 9,140 affordable homes will be held in March. The housing authority is expected to float an advertisement for the lottery in the first week of February.

Awhad said the proposal to amend the existing housing rules is expected to be cleared by the state cabinet soon to allow reservations for the two categories of employees. “Next month, around 9,100 Mhada flats in Thane city, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan will be given away through a lottery system. We are amending the [housing] rules in a few days, so that around 2,000 flats are reserved for Class 4 government employees and police constables,” the housing minister said.

In the next three years, the housing authority plans to construct around five lakh affordable homes in the state, the minister informed. “In the coming years, five lakh Mhada houses will be constructed, which would mean 50,000 affordable flats will be made available for Class 4 government and semi-government employees, and an additional 50,000 flats for police constables, who today live in illegal chawls in far-flung areas such as Titwala, Badlapur etc,” Awhad said.

As the housing authority is exhausting its land bank, the minister said Mhada will also venture into redeveloping buildings on its land.