MHADA fails to attract buyers in Virar, thanks to water woes

The heart of the problem is water shortage, reportedly exacerbated by water tanker and private builder lobbies in Virar

Mumbai In a city where owning a house is out of bounds for many thanks to staggering real estate prices, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) is having a hard time selling its low cost inventory of around 2048 homes in a colony of over 15 22-storey towers in Virar-Bolinj.

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The heart of the problem is water shortage, reportedly exacerbated by water tanker and private builder lobbies in Virar.

In April this year, when MHADA advertised a special allotment drive of houses on a first-come-first-serve basis, only 350 buyers showed interest in the lottery. The remaining 1698 IBHK and 2BHK tenements are still awaiting buyers. The housing authority’s Konkan Board drew a lottery of 4640 homes in Vasai-Virar, Thane, Kalyan, Palghar and Raigad on May 10 and another 737 homes were added from other suburbs, taking the list of unsold inventory to 2435.

The board constructed over 9000 houses in Virar-Bolinj over the last eight years. Before the pandemic had set in, about 6000 homes were sold in the first phase, but the scheme garnered bad publicity after the first lot of buyers came to live here, who are still struggling with acute water shortage. They get their fill from private tankers, which pinches their pockets. Interestingly, other private societies in the area have adequate water supply.

Hitendra Thakur, a local MLA and head of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), the party that has been in power in Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC), assured that there will be additional quota of water to the MHADA colony soon as the suburb will get its supply from Surya dam. He brushed away the allegation that the water tanker brigade was driving the scarcity. “Every city in MMR depends on water tankers. Vasai-Virar being close to Mumbai, Thane and Vapi has become the most favoured destination for lakhs of people,” said Thakur.

He linked to water crisis to the rapid population growth in areas governed by the VVMC, and added that the civic body must “take speedy decisions to resolve the problems”.

MHADA’s Konkan board chief officer, Maruti More, however accepted that paucity of water was behind the poor response to the low-cost homes over the last three years. He added that despite the body pursuing the matter with VVMC over three years it has yet “to receive a response to help lift the water shortage in the area”.

“Residents receive only third of the actual daily need. In a recent meeting, the corporation promised to resolve the issue of water supply soon. Once that happens, homes will be sold easily as they are available at a competent price,” said More.

When MHADA had submitted its scheme to the civic body to build the towers, they were marked the tallest in the area. The VVMA expressed its inability to give occupation certificate (OC) as it did not have a big fire tender and ladder, which could serve such a tall building in moments of crisis. At the time, MHADA’s Konkan Board had spent around ₹15 crore to buy fire-fighting machinery for the corporation, following which OC was issued in 2018, said a MHADA official. The official added: “Besides the water issue, pricing and location have also played a part in people not wanting to put their money on these properties.”