Mhada launches drive to evict encroachers in its transit camps

The fun is over for encroachers. The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has launched a massive drive to evict encroachers from its transit camps in the city.

The fun is over for encroachers.

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The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has launched a massive drive to evict encroachers from its transit camps in the city.

Starting from Dharavi, Mhada officials found that out of the 1,512 tenements, only 288 were the authorised occupants.

The rest of the rooms were sold, occupied by relatives, or locked.

Subhash Hazare, chief officer, repair board (Mhada), said that the repair board was going to take strict action against the encroachers.

“We are going to seal the locked houses and also issue a show-cause notice to all the flats which are occupied by unauthorised people,” said Hazare.

“We have suspended two of our rent collectors. We will also submit the names of six touts to the police.”

From September 15 to 20, at least 17 squads conducted surveys in 18 buildings in the area.

It was found that 45 residents had sold their property, while 343 flats were in possession of families or friends of the original tenants.

Nearly 502 rooms were locked.

It was also found that six families had illegally broken the locks and taken possession.

“We will evict these encroachers right away with the help of the police,” said Hazare.

Transit camps are built by the housing authority to provide accommodation to residents in buildings that need to be pulled down or in need of extensive repairs.

Many touts in Mhada have made it a lucrative business of sub-leasing such houses or even selling them with the help of a few housing board officials.

“The city is in dire need of transit camps considering the developmental activity taking place. Such encroachers should be weeded out immediately,” said Advocate Vinod Sampat, who deals in realty issues.

“It needs to be a sustained campaign,” Sampat added.