‘Don’t claim vacant plots in Mhada colonies’

The 400 vacant plots in the city’s 56 Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) housing complexes will be given to societies only when the government agency is unable to develop them independently.

The 400 vacant plots in the city’s 56 Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) housing complexes will be given to societies only when the government agency is unable to develop them independently.

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Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that the housing societies should not stake their claim on tit-bit plots (scattered smaller plots) because Mhada owned them and hence it proposed to develop them.

Chavan said this in his written reply to a question by legislators Sanjay Saokare and Bala Nandgaonkar. The MLAs said many societies paid Mhada for such plots but they were unable to use them for redevelopment.

In a desperate need to create more affordable houses, the Mhada proposed, in June, to pool together the floor space index (FSI) permissible on such plots so that it gets more housing stock. Currently, Mhada’s land bank is negligible.

The cooperative societies have opposed Mhada’s decision. They want to buy the pieces of land in their neighbourhood from the authority so that they can avail more FSI (2.5 maximum permissible) while redeveloping their old housing complexes.

“As per the existing norms, the Mhada vice-president is authorised to decide on land that has not been given on lease to (housing societies). The authority is now exploring the possibility to use such plots for constructing affordable flats,” said Chavan.

However, Chavan said Mhada would allot the plots to societies only when it is unable to develop them independently.