Here's a piece of bad news for all those dreaming of getting a house in the next Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) housing lottery.
Here's a piece of bad news for all those dreaming of getting a house in the next Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) housing lottery.
Officials on the premier housing authority's Mumbai board have admitted that many of their upcoming housing colonies in the city will not get water supply in the near future. The officials have, however, clarified that the situation is only because of the unprecedented water crisis that Mumbai is currently facing.
Mumbai board chairman Amarjeet Singh Manhas and lottery chief officer Satish Bhide, both accepted that providing water to the new housing colonies is going to be a tough task for the authority.
"Due to the unprecedented water crisis in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has expressed its inability to allot water connections to some of the new colonies constructed by Mhada. However, we are trying to explore other ways and means through which we can provide some sort of water supply to these houses," informed Bhide. He added that it was not possible for Mhada to arrange for water supply to all the tenements, most which will be handed over to the lottery winners by August this year.
According to officials, many colonies will get proper water supply only by end of this year, colonies in Turbhe-Mandale, Mankhurd, will be the worst affected. These housing colonies will get water connections only by December 2011. Official correspondence from the BMC has mentioned that these houses will get connection only next year, said Bhide, adding that most of the houses to be sold in the soon-to-be-held lottery are in an advanced stage of construction.
Meanwhile, the housing lottery for 3,449 houses at various locations in the city will take place on May 18 and Mhada has received as many as 3,17,706 valid applications for the lottery. The lottery this time has more houses for the economically weaker section (about 80%) as compared to the high and middle income group (HIG and MIG) houses.
Bhide said that the board has learnt from mistakes that happened during the last lottery process and all errors will be rectified. "This year we have asked for the account numbers as well as MICR codes of the applicants. We are also implementing the Electronic Clearance System (ECS) with Saraswat Bank. This would ensure that those who have not won a tenement will get back their money within a few hours after the lottery," added Bhide.
However, the issue of members of assembly and parliament being disqualified from the lottery has pushed Mhada officials on back foot. Manhas defending the 2% reservation given to the people's representatives said that some of the members may be qualified under the LIG and EWS.
"In any case, we are doing a detailed scrutiny of each and every form received for the lottery. If the income is not in the specified range, the application will be rejected," added Manhas.
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