Mhada claims that 103 unsafe buildings were evacuated and residents moved to transit camps, Smita Deshmukh reports.
Mhada claims 103 unsafe buildings were evacuated and residents moved to transit camps
MUMBAI: Every year, many lose their lives and property as unstable and unsafe buildings come tumbling down in the heavy rains that lash the city. However, as Mumbai witnessed heavy downpour on Monday and Tuesday, officials at the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) promised that things will be different this year.
The officials claim to have been evacuating 103 cess buildings, declared dangerous, in phases all over the city.
Forty-two of these were evacuated in the past month.
“By Tuesday the structures will be empty, and the residents moved into 55 transit camps across Mumbai,” said IS Chahal, vice-president and chief Executive officer, MHADA.
Officials are also seeking sops for constructing transit camps on mill lands. “Building transit camps on mill lands is a good move as the tenants will remain in south Mumbai. But we require incentives from the state government. If we use 1.33 FSI, we can barely construct 1,500 tenements, but with 2.5 FSI, the number can go up to 5,000,” said Chahal.
Officials from the state housing ministry say they are working out the guidelines of a special scheme for the sustainable redevelopment of the cess buildings, which involves the direct involvement of the banks. “Under this, financial institutions would take the lead and back new housing societies. This would instill faith in the tenants,” said an official.
Chahal said the obstacle MHADA was facing was not a dearth of funds, but differences between landlords and tenants. “A majority of cess buildings are privately owned and so the state and Centre cannot pump funds into their redevelopment. The new scheme has to be advantageous for everyone — landlords, developers, tenants and the MHADA,” Chahal said.
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