Can MHADA revive stalled projects?

The Maharashtra cabinet on Wednesday approved the policy for the redevelopment of the old and cessed buildings under 33 (7) that are left midway by developers due to fund crunch and other issues. This move will pave the way for the redevelopment of several buildings in the city and address the long wait that residents were subjected to due to stuck projects.The panelist discussed the issues and projects that were stuck due to roadblock and various other reasons. They also elucidated as to how citizen's participation and this initiative can fasten the process of stuck redevelopment. The speakers comprised Prasad Lad, former head of the repair and reconstruction of MHADA, Ramesh Prabhu, Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association and tenants whose houses are stuck.

Prasad Lad
MLC and former chairman of Mumbai Repair and Re-construction Board

When I was a chairman in MHADA, I had written letters related to incomplete projects in the year 2013 to the previous government. The projects faced difficulty due to various reasons such as road widening, problems in ownership, dilapidated building issues, builder and tenant issues among others. After three to four letters written to the last government, the current government after a few years of studying the issues set up a committee to resolve them.

Few of the major issues included - around 19,000 dilapidated buildings in Mumbai city (from Colaba to Mahim and from Colaba to Sion) in which 1940 criteria was used after which 1969 criteria was later implemented. In 1972 when the MHADA board was formed, the criteria of 50 years old building was implemented. Now, the current situation is that we have 100 years old building too. I had requested a few years ago that the buildings which have completed 30 years should come under redevelopment too as it also faces structural problems. If this concept is used, building constructed in 1990 will also come under these criteria and the volume of the buildings will increase to around 25,000 to 30,000.

A recent example is Esplanade Mansion. When I was a chairman, for four years I had declared that building as dilapidated. Many lawyers had their offices in that building. They went to the Bombay High Court, after which an order was passed by the court to not do anything related to the building. If MHADA develops the building, in the redevelopment policy too it should have a time-framed policy.

Another issue I had highlighted in the letter was of transit camps redevelopment. In some cases, people who have been shifted to transit camps, have been staying there for three generations now. In the coming week, the government will be taking the decision on regularisation of transit camps. It will benefit around 13,000 families in Mumbai.

The third issue was of MHADA and Prime Minister Grant Programme (PMGP) colony. Government has taken a decision on MHADA colony. Through Mumbai board's help, the MHADA buildings redevelopment plan will be planned by the MHADA authority. When Rajiv Gandhi was a prime minister in 1984 had visited Dharavi. during the visit, he realised that people stay in huts and in poor condition. Through his government, he had provided Rs 100 crore in 1984 and around nine PMGP colony were developed in Mumbai. All the nine PMGP colonies are in prime locations including areas like Byculla, Umerkhadi, Worli to name a few. Even if we plan to take up a redevelopment project under the Development Control Rule (DCR) 33 (9) in PMGP, we will be able to achieve the five lakh houses goal of the prime minister. Through the PMGP colony development, we will find a minimum of 50,000 houses to be developed only in this project. In MHADA redevelopment, at least 1.5-2 lakhs houses can be developed.

If so many affordable houses are developed in Mumbai, the people who migrated from Mumbai to outskirts like Thane, Dombivali, etc will come back.

When MHADA will start acquiring, around 50% defaulters will stop using fraud method. In order to create trust among the people, the elected representatives and government authority should raise awareness among the people. People fear to raise their issues with MHADA.

We welcome the decision taken by the CM. If the implementation is done properly, people will start trusting the government. The CM is working for the betterment of the citizens and a new Mumbai will be developed by 2022. 100% development until 2022 is not possible, but whichever development work starts, people will come forward in support of the government.

While there are independent authorities like BMC, MHADA, CIDCO, etc, in order to make them work and coordinate, one major committee needs to be formed above them as a solution so that the authorities don't behave irresponsibly.

Constitutionally, the MHADA should get an authority that they can give more than the regular land value (double or triple value to the landowner than the regular value), citizens will themselves come forward to give their land. According to me, equal responsibility must be given to the tenant as much as the government gets the responsibility. A movement must be formed by the citizens with the support of law judiciary point.

MHADA has its own vigilance department. Citizens usually go and approach a local police station. People should reach out to the vigilance department to raise their concerns. After the current decision, naxal work such as managing people or scaring people will be stopped and will be under the scanner of the government. The current government is for the common and will be working for the common man. We will stronger our vigilance department and also open a help desk for the citizens.

Ramesh Prabhu
Chairman, Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association

This is one of the long pending demands and government intervention was expected. The projects are getting stuck not for the a year or two, but they were stuck for about a decade or even more in some cases. There was no way forward. This is a welcome decision but we will have to look into the details as in when they come in.

This is a good move, this should have ben done long back. But there are various issues that can come in, like the developer who has invested money may cause problems, they may approach the high court. Both the sides may get into a legal battle, argue and it may become a long drawn issue. It can help maybe 30-40% projects where landlord has become bankrupt or the builder isn't taking much interest and the tenant is desperate. in such cases there will surely be some relief. However, some hardcore developers or landlords do exist who will challenge this circular the way it has taken shape. Earlier, when MHADA had introduced a separate chapter in 1990, MHADA had allowed tenants of cessed building to pay 100 times of the rent to the land owner and by doing this they could become the owner of the apartments. Nearly 100-150 buildings in Mumbai opted for this scheme and became owners.

However, some land owners objected to this and asked for more than 100 times rent, they asked for more money. The tenants then came together and they became cooperative societies. The high court held that land owners do not take pro-active steps for redevelopment or repair, and since government was intervening, this decision was needed. However, some landlords challenged it in the Supreme Court, and now it is still lying with the constitutional bench. And this is for more than 20-years.

The new policy, where there are no landowners, and tenants do not know what has to be done. They have no idea about where cluster redevelopment takes place, where small plots exist and how this redevelopment will benefit them. MHADA is now the planning authority, they are going to acquire the land and do every thing that is requiredfor the redevelopment. It is now possible that projects like these will speed up. Some legislative measure has been initiated.

Earlier, the matter of paying 100 times the rent, had got stuck in the court, the government then gave incentives as high as 50% to the redevelopment to the landlords and developers including the FSI. The state government is now intervening because the tenants are on the road it has become important for the government to address the issue.

Till now there was no policy and after new rules and regulation things will hopefully fall in place. Though, I don't think things will be smooth, it has been more than a year since MHADA formed the planning authority for its 56 layouts. There hasn't been much of a movement visible as yet. Now this new thing will be an assurance to the people, that MHADA will takeover and help, and some more time will pass. Landlords are another hinderance that my hamper the movement. They may not leave the property for MHADA to redevelop, they will engage the best lawyers, they will take the issue to the high court and Supreme Court, and it will be prolonged. They have earlier too taken things into litigation. Untill and unless this is given legal status, it will not yield desired results.

Self redevelopment is for housing societies, but here we are dealing with tenant properties where the residents can't even form a housing society, hence self redevelopment isn't possible, hence we will have to give away this dream.

MHADA can acquire and develop the buildings. The dispute is because of two interests. While the tenant is interested in a house, the landlord is interested in profits. Any land owner, whom I have suggested to form a society, says that the tenant might misuse the power. The trust deficit between landlord and the tenants is increasing and with MHADA coming in, there will be further issues and self redevelopment cannot come in picture. Self redevelopment can be done via education and awareness. If MHADA takes over then there will be no benefit to the landlord so at least via self redevelopment things can be done amicably. This has to be told to the landlord.

Education and training till the time not imparted, things won't change. Today there doesn't exist a system where people can acquire such knowledge, a builder can manage tenants. Today we do not have a special cell or one window for training tenants, but that is needed. There needs to be an authority that can pass on authentic information like how GST knowledge is being imparted.

Similarly a government body should make it compulsory that all legalities are taught and this will stop misleading of tenants. Every housing society should take training every year from a government institutions. This will help.

Shriyans Kanvinde.
Flat owner of a stuck Building

When I was a student 12 years ago, I was a witness of this particular problem. Many of those living in the Chapra building were hoping to see themselves living in a redeveloped new building, unfortunately 105 people lost their lives before they could see their new homes. Ours, Chapara and Mohsin building were the victims of this situation.

There are only a few people like us who can afford to move out to far away places. There are many people who dreamt of returning to their home after 2-3 years, but sadly that did not happen. Even then there were a group of the members who complained that the builder did not take our consent for our project. Infact, he carried out the entire agreement profess through notary while these people advised him to register the process. However, the builder lured the poor living in chawls by giving them a sum of Rs 60,000. And as soon as these families moved out of their houses the builder took control of their properties. Adding to their misery, the builder also cut the water supply of those households who did not move out. My father and I were a victim of these, but we were fortunate to move out. We did not move out because the builder was not following the process of registry and insisted for going with notary. We demanded a registry because, then the whole process would be documented.

Now my father is 70-years-old and he still dreams of getting his hard earned home back. It should be a six storey building but the builder has illegally constructed it over the limit. Every institution whether the government, court or MHADA is interlinked. So if the government wants to do anything about the problem they will do. Moreover, like many people I am also convinced by the policies introduced by PM Narendra Modi and CM Devendra Fadnavis. The builder has promised us a 450 sq feet flat but we don't even have a roof over our head. If he constructs a good building for us, we will be grateful. Infact, if he gives us the Chhapra building back which is situated in the heart of the city we will be thankful. But that will only happen if they look into the matter seriously. If a huge project like Metro can be built then this is hardly a construction of 10 floors! This is like cakewalk for the government.

Talking about self development, I believe more awareness is required amongst the people. Secondly, people like us who live in chawl should have the power to change and command. People residing in stuck buildings were exiled for 14 years, so now they should act on it to solve this issue. Most importantly in a city like Mumbai, money can solve your problems only if channelised and circulated properly. The process should be streamlined and made smooth for structural engineers, contractors, architects etc, only then the disputes between them will be solved. The government should take the responsibility of solving our problems as we have no where else to go.

Let bygones be bygones. Educating the people is a solution to this problem. There are many organisations who see to it that people are educated regarding these matters. According to the law the minutes of the meets are to be submitted by the chairman and secratary of the society. One more law should be made where education should be made compulsory for the members of the management committee of the society. The media also plays an important role in giving an impetus to our problems. Due to extensive coverage in media all of these people will definitely get their homes back. All of us should come together and solve this problem.

Sunil Shah
Tenant of a stuck building

It important howe MHADA takes this forward. Every six months the governing body should inspect on the work completed. In the Chhapra and Mohsin building, the builder Uday Surve stopped giving rent post 2013. These type of builders are actually the culprits. He has committed many frauds in the past. And yet, he was supported by the authorities. So, they went on giving them NOCs. Rooms were being sold to 15-20 people at a time.

The tenants were taken for granted. Chappra and Mohsin building were 75-year-old with 143 tenants. People who were shifted and are staying in Dadar are poor and survive on day-to-day earnings. Today they are living in a miserable condition. Some are in Nalasopora, Virar and even in Kanjurmarg. Some are delivering newspapers, washing cars, and are doing all such chores for a living. No rent is given, nothing. So in such cases, these tenants have been taken for a ride. Norms were not followed and the developer was not questioned at all. We wrote to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, police stations, and every other authority. MHADA chief on April 2, 2019, passed a circular regarding acquisition of property.

The buiding was dilapidated and needed 100% redevelopment. However, during that time, we didn't have enough knowledge and awareness about frauds. We believed him because he was our landlord. The police asked us to go to ReRa office. After approaching the ReRa, it took us eight months just to get a hearing date.

We had to go to the court every time and MHADA were clueless about us going to the court. The court decision was in our favour. The chairman of MHADA and others came to us with their false promises. MHADA chairman and CEO were clueless about us approaching the court. After they got to know, they chaired a meeting. So whatever paperwork we did in the three years, this is the result we got on April 2, 2019.

When you talk about acquisition - there are two types of builders in the city, the one who is stuck in the calculation and the other who is notorious. And everybody knows who is which type of builder, and yet nothing has been done. 113 people lost their lives because of Uday Surve. There is no rent since past 10 years. People have lost everything, they have sold everything. 13 FIRs, have been lodged against him, EOW cases are going on, his offices are all sealed. Such fraudulents should not get lawyers to fight their side.

In several cases, the tenants are rich. There are several such people in South Mumbai. These landlords only take rent receipt for Rs 500 or Rs 300 and even then the tenants cross question them. The redevelopment over here is only between the mutual understanding, it cannot be a self-redevelopment.

If we go for self-development, the blame will be on us. MHADA and the government are our godfathers. We seek help from them. And of course, no doubt about it - I have faith in this government. We wrote a letter to the Mantralaya, a after it was submitted, we got a message within a very short period of time.

The grievances need to be followed up with the authority. Earlier in case of queries we called up MHADA. They would say this a vigilance thing, your house is under-construction, if you have any problem please ask support from the vigilance desk. These things worked 15 years back, as people were unaware about the proceedings. But now times have changed, and everything is available on the internet.

DNA ANALYSIS

The government's move to allow MHADA to redevelop cessed buildings which are stuck for years altogether is a welcome move. There are more than 14,000 cessed buildings in the island city, and almost all of them are dilapidated and need urgent redevelopment. However, the differences between the tenant and the landlord in most cases delays the redevelopment. The second case that leads in to creation of stuck projects are the developers.

Many developers have taken up projects, and they are unable to complete it. Tenants are languishing in the transit camps for years altogether some for almost two to three decades. They have been waiting for redevelopment of the building but all in vain.

The move by MHADA if followed by the officials diligently then will prove beneficiary for the redevelopment of all the cessed apartment. What is in favour of MHADA here that, it has been appointed as the planning authority for not just its 56 layouts but also for cessed apartments. Which means, MHADA will decide whether a property needs to be acquired, and how it has to be redeveloped. The aim of MHADA has to be act swiftly and fast, because every monsoon many of these buildings collapse, and they are causing major embarrassment for the government as well for MHADA and other authorities.

With MHADA becoming the planning authority the other aspect of small buildings on smaller plots with no much benefit to the developer will also get redeveloped. The reason being the smaller plots were not much attractive to developers, and no one wanted to take over them. However, now MHADA can even redevelop such buildings.

There is a major need of education, especially imparting legal education related to tenancy rights, and education related to redevelopment and rights of a tenants. There are many projects where developers have asked tenants to vacate the premises only by signing a notarized document not any agreement, that is executed and registered.

If education on rights of what the developer should follow and what are the rights of a tenant during redevelopment is imparted, then there are major chances that a tenant won't be duped by a developer. The number of cases where projects get stuck will reduce drastically only because the tenants won't fall prey to developers who do not follow the procedures.

Redevelopment of old buildings is a major concern for the city of Mumbai and why it is needed because, Mumbai doesn't have land bank and homes to accommodate the existing and the ever increasing population is only redevelopment of the old buildings. This move is also expected to bring in affordable homes within the Mumbai city limits.

When MHADA will redevelop the old buildings, they unlike developers aren't meant to charge profit. they would try to recover the construction cost plus an additional 10 to 20 per cent charge that they have spent on construction of the rehabilitation building as well as the sale component. The homes thus built by MHADA via such redevelopment, will be sold at a lower rate than at which the developer sells. This will mean a lot of homes will be available in the market at cheaper than builder or market rate. Which they will be selling via lottery. However, the most important need is that there should be an important policy that should be put in place for a smooth implementation of the new policy.