On March 30, the state had issued a Government Resolution (GR) appointing Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) as the nodal agency to redevelop the chawls and thereby not giving benefit of redevelopment to a private developer.
The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the state government to inform the outer limit by when it will redevelop the 91 acres of Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) chawls which are located in Worli, Naigaon and Lower Parel areas in Central Mumbai.
On March 30, the state had issued a Government Resolution (GR) appointing Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) as the nodal agency to redevelop the chawls and thereby not giving benefit of redevelopment to a private developer.
According to the resolution, 11-member committee headed by the chief secretary has been set up to supervise/monitor the construction. However, the court expressed displeasure that such high ranking officials are named in the committee would they be able to meet once. The court has asked the committee members to meet regularly and supervise/monitor the redevelopment process.
The high court had earlier asked the government to ensure that a state agency undertakes the redevelopment work instead of giving it to a private developer considering the worthiness of the properties.
The directions was given while hearing a petition filed by an ex-policemen who had sought directions to the government to consider framing a policy, granting the tenants ownership even after the policemen retire from service.
The government has decided to redevelop the BDD chawls and give ownership to the present residents. By issuing a circular dated November 5, 2015, it has also stayed the eviction notice issued to those who had overstayed in the premises.
The BDD chawls, comprising 16,000 tenements in Worli, Naigaon and NM Joshi Marg, were constructed over 90 years ago. The 160 square feet tenement house government staff, of which around 2,916 tenements house police constables and their families. Some families have been residing there for almost three generations.
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