Housing board may soon hear 30 redevelopment proposals

Four days after the Hindustan Times report on 169 proposals for building redevelopment being stuck with the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), the chief officer state housing secretary, Gautam Chatterjee, has stepped in to clear the mess.

Four days after the Hindustan Times report on 169 proposals for building redevelopment being stuck with the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), the chief officer state housing secretary, Gautam Chatterjee, has stepped in to clear the mess.

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Now the Mhada (Mumbai Board) meeting scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed by a week and all officials have been instructed to place complete proposals before the board.

There are indications that at least 30 of the proposals would come before the board for approval within the next week.

“It is good decision as it makes no sense to prolong the process of redevelopment without any valid reason,” said Virendra Upadhyay, the Mhada board member who had raised the issue.

Since the state housing body is the landlord of these buildings, a no-objection certificate (NOC) is necessary before proceeding to the municipal body for any development proposal.

It was thought the proposals were unlikely to get a green signal as the chief officer of Mhada (Mumbai Board) Satish Bhide had gone on leave because his resignation had not yet been accepted by the state government.

On Monday, Chatterjee also solved the contentious issue of taking a premium amount on all building redevelopment proposals presented before September 20 and housing stock on all proposals after that day.

Till date, developers always paid premium amount instead of handing over houses to the state housing board. However, due to the scarcity of land, the housing board officials had insisted compulsorily on houses instead of a premium to create a handsome stock of low-cost apartments.

There was infighting among the board and officials with respect to this issue, which has now been laid to rest by Chatterjee.