MHADA sees 5 chief officers in 4 months

How serious is the administration of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) about redeveloping their colonies? With five chief officers (CO) within the last four months, most Mumbai board members of the authority feel that there is lack of seriousness in expediting the redevelopment process.

After the resignation of Satish Bhide, who was Mumbai board chief officer till November last year, the board administration has seen as many as five new faces as their chief officers. It was Subhash Hazare (November 4 to December 16, 2010) followed by Dinkar Jagdale (December 16 to December 28, 2010). After Jagdale, Hazare again took over on December 28 and remained on the post till January 1, 2011. After his brief tenure, Arvind Dhole took over on January 3 and remained on the post till mid March (March 19). Since March 19, AB Misal has been given the charge.

The board members expressed strong displeasure over this recent reshuffles.

“The board is committed to give as many affordable houses to Mumbaikars as possible. We decided to take housing stock instead of premium for the very same reason on September 19, 2010. We still have to be clear 333 proposals,” said a senior Mhada Mumbai board member Allwyn Das.

According to Mumbai board chairman Amarjit Singh Manhas, the administration needed to expedite the process of redevelopment. “It was observed that if the administration heads keep changing , this process will slow down considerably,” informed Manhas.