For MHADA, 25 years in camp not enough to get flat

After staying for 25 years at a transit camp in Vikhroli, a senior citizen, Bakrunnisa Pistawala, 63, and her four children might be allotted a permanent house at Faukland road in south Mumbai by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

MHADA had declared the building in which Pistawala stayed as dangerous to live in and had asked the family to vacate immediately.

Advocate GW Mattos appearing for Mhada informed a division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice RG Ketkar that within eight weeks the authority will consider her application and decide whether the petitioner is eligible and, if she is, her name will be included in the master list (waiting list).

As and when she is due for the allotment as per seniority it will be handed over to her.

Pistawala has been staying at the transit camp since 1983 on a temporary basis and has been paying the rent to MHADA regularly.

However, her several requests to the authority to provide her permanent allocation of a flat of 600 sq ft at her original place in South Mumbai had been falling on deaf ears.

She then moved the high court seeking direction to the authority to provide her a flat in the redeveloped building at Faukland road.

The authority replied positively to that on Tuesday.

According to Pistawala’s petition, she and her late husband Fakir, used to stay on the third floor of Usman Building in Grant Road.

On May 21, 1982, MHADA, after declaring the building as dangerous for habitation, gave them the vacating notice. The authority gave them alternate accommodation at a transit camp in Vikhroli on November 7, 1983.

The petition states that in 2002 Fakir died and since then the family has been trying to get back their house but have failed.

However, the court disposed of the petition after the
statement made by Mhada on Tuesday.