MUMBAI: Residents of 388 MHADA buildings on Wednesday gathered in thousands at Azad Maidan to stage protest, as despite chief minister Eknath Shinde promising them of a redevelopment scheme, the order has not been issued till now. They were met by the guardian minister of Mumbai, Deepak Kesarkar, who assured them that the CM will hold a meeting on the issue in the next three days.
MHADA had redeveloped these 388 buildings three to four decades back, after demolishing around 900 old buildings in Mumbai city. With passing of time, the buildings have again become dilapidated, Spread across Colaba, Girgaon, Mumba Devi, Byculla, Shiwari, Prabhadevi and Mahim, the buildings house a total of 27,373 flats with each building having 80 to 100 flats.
Despite the state government publishing a notification to allow redevelopment of these buildings with incentive FSI (the quotient of the ratio of the total permissible built-up area to the total plot area), there has not been any movement in this regard till now, after 10 months have passed since the notification was published. As a result, 27,373 flat owners are still waiting for a government order to be issued as, in its absence, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) expressed its inability to implement the redevelopment scheme in compliance with the provisions in the notification.
With elections round the corner, leaders from ruling as well as opposition parties, like MP Arvind Sawant, MNS leader Bala Nandgaokar, MLA Ajay Chowdhary, reached the maidan to pacify the protesting owners and residents of the flats. When guardian minister of Mumbai Deepak Kesarkar reached the site, Eknath Rajapure, working president of Kruti Samiti, apprised him about the situation that has led to the protest. To this, Kesarkar replied, “I will inform CM Shinde about your problems and the current status of the government notification. CM Shinde will conduct a meeting on the issue within three days.”
{{/usCountry}}With elections round the corner, leaders from ruling as well as opposition parties, like MP Arvind Sawant, MNS leader Bala Nandgaokar, MLA Ajay Chowdhary, reached the maidan to pacify the protesting owners and residents of the flats. When guardian minister of Mumbai Deepak Kesarkar reached the site, Eknath Rajapure, working president of Kruti Samiti, apprised him about the situation that has led to the protest. To this, Kesarkar replied, “I will inform CM Shinde about your problems and the current status of the government notification. CM Shinde will conduct a meeting on the issue within three days.”
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