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Maharashtra wants Mumbai Port Trust land for housing

Centre urged to lease out 100 acres to construct transit camps for residents of dilapidated bldgs

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The Hussaini building collapse incident has acted as a catalyst for this decision
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In the wake of the Hussaini building collapse at Bhendi Bazar recently, the Maharashtra government has requested Centre to lease out 100 acres of Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) land for construction of transit buildings. This, the state says, would facilitate speedy redevelopment of old and  in the city.

State Minister for Housing Ravindra Waikar has written to Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources in this regard. “In Mumbai, 19,000 buildings are in old and dilapidated condition. Out of these, 14,375 are dangerous to stay in. We need to take redevelopment of these buildings on war footing to avert Hussaini building-like incidents in which 34 people lost their lives,” Waikar said.

Waikar said that presently residents of these buildings are not moving out even though they are in dangerous condition. “We are unable to provide them alternative accommodation. MHADA does not have sufficient transits, and some of them are far away; so, people are not interested in moving out to these locations. We need to provide them alternative accommodation within the city. The MbPT land is in South Mumbai, so people will happily go to transit buildings built there. We are ready to take the land on long-term lease basis,” Waikar added.

Waikar has also requested Gadkari for a meeting to resolve this issue. “We need to undertake time-bound redevelopment. Many redevelopment projects are stuck for several years due to various reasons. We need to undertake redevelopment of the old and dangerous buildings on priority basis,” Waikar said.Mumbai Port Trust owns  1,800 acres of prime land in south and south-central Mumbai along the eastern seafront.

Move hailed 

Developers have welcomed the Maharashtra government decision. “Mumbai is an island city. There is no land to expand further. The Mumbai Port Trust land is untouched. So, this can be used for various development work including transit buildings,” a developer said. The MbPT owns 1,800 acres of prime land in south and south-central Mumbai along the eastern seafront.

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