10,000 homes to come up at transit camps

The state government has decided to demolish the old and dilapidated transit camp buildings and construct over 10,000 houses in the city.

Minister of state for housing Sachin Ahir said they have identified the crumbling Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) transit camp locations. “We will demolish these building and new 10,000 houses will be constructed. The houses will be located at Mulund, Ghatkopar, Anushakti Nagar, Sion and Dahisar. It will take at least five to six years for the new houses to be built. We will hold a lottery to distribute the houses,” he told DNA on Sunday.

There are almost 57 transit camps sites in the city. “Most of these transit camp buildings were built before 1940. The dilapidated buildings can collapse any moment. So, we have decided to demolish them and build safer buildings,” said a Mhada official.

Another Mhada official said people are reluctant to move out of old buildings even though they are not safe. “But we are committed to keep people safe and construct more houses,” he said.

“We are exploring all options to construct as many as affordable houses in city. We have decided to take the help of the private developers to construct the houses on government and private land. The government is also deciding to give more floor space index (FSI) to slums and dilapidated buildings to meet the demand for houses,” Ahir added.