Civic bodies, planning authorities can now take over pending SRA projects
Maharashtra govt allows civic bodies and planning authorities to take over pending slum rehabilitation projects in Mumbai, bringing relief to tenants.
In a significant move, the Maharashtra government has decided to allow civic bodies and planning authorities to take over slum rehabilitation (SRA) projects that have been pending for years in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The move will bring relief to tenants, some of whom have been waiting for decades for their homes.
The government’s decision will allow all civic bodies, such as the BMC and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), and planning authorities such as MMRDA, Mhada and CIDCO to invest and complete the projects, states a government resolution issued by the state housing department on Thursday.
A civic body or a planning authority will have to form a joint venture (JV) with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), which will remain as a planning authority. The partners in the JV will have to develop rehabilitation tenements before the saleable tenements. The civic body or planning agency will have the power to decide the price of the saleable tenements among other things, said a senior official from the housing department. However the order states that saleable tenements must be sold at affordable prices.
The agency will have to follow all the existing procedures for changing the developer in case he or she is unable to complete the project. It will also have to continue paying monthly rent to tenants who have moved following the demolition of their houses. The agency will have to prepare an estimation of the construction done of a pending SRA project and return the amount to the concerned developers.
The state government has also decided to constitute a high-level committee that will give approvals to all such projects. The eight-member committee will be headed by the housing secretary and will comprise the urban development secretary and the CEO of the SRA among others. “Once a proposal is approved by the SRA, it will be sent to the committee for final approval,” a housing official said.
The state government has for several years been coming out with various initiatives and methods to kickstart stalled SRA projects, that are in hundreds in Mumbai city alone.
