Niranjankumar Sudhanshu, Chief Officer, Mumbai Housing & Area Development Board, shares perspectives on recent MHADA technology initiatives and how they benefit home seekers.
Which are the areas under MHADA’s purview where there is potential for redevelopment/ rental housing in the near future?
Under the new DCR, the redevelopment has been made more tenant-friendly and more flexible. Incentive has been given in the form of larger carpet area for larger cluster development. So it is expected that all the MHADA colonies, where the buildings are old, especially those developed more than 30 years back would benefit. Another area where the redevelopment should be focused is the colonies with ground floor structures like Motilal Nagar. In these areas, the unutilized potential is huge, which would result in relieving Mumbai of some congestion.
How has the higher visible transparency, conducting the lottery in public, made a difference in terms of perception?
We have tried to make the entire process of lottery and final allotment of houses smooth and available online so that anybody is able to apply and, if successful, follow the processes up to final allotment. The human intervention in the lottery has been totally eliminated and now from the year 2014, even the post lottery process is being done online where the transparency has increased manifold. Since the entire lottery process is conducted under the supervision of experts and independent people and also since the software is tested and certified by the reputed organizations, people have now faith in the transparency in the system.
How do you verify whether applicants have another house in Maharashtra or not?
Till now the verification was not very systematic. It was based more on complaints by people on the waiting list or checking the database lotteries of recent past. Now almost the entire data of the tenants of MHADA is digitized and so from this year onwards, the checking will involve the entire data base of MHADA tenants. We will also attempt to get the database from MCGM of property tax so as to enable us to refine and sharpen our search.
How has the marketing department of the board geared up for the current market slowdown? Has the demand for MHADA projects been affected at all?
Though the reality sector seems to be stagnating at the moment, the demand for housing especially in the affordable segment of EWS, LIG and MIG has gone up. The shortage of housing in the city in these segments is very visible in form of informal and unauthorized houses.
Response to MHADA lottery has been increasing for last 5 years and is expected to go up in the near future. More and more affordable houses are expected to be generated as a result of higher FSI given to MHADA land.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}