Clause relaxed, builders need consent from 51 per cent tenants

Devendra Fadnavis announced on Monday that builders would now need consent from 51 per cent residents, instead of 70. The amendment to the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act aims to empower residents to develop their land where developers are not cooperating.

To curb corruption and sabotage in redevelopment of all buildings, including private ones, the tenant consent clause has been relaxed. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Monday that builders would now need consent from 51 per cent residents, instead of 70. The amendment to the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act aims to empower residents to develop their land where developers are not cooperating. Taking ahead reforms in the urban development ministry, Fadnavis announced that all building proposals would get online clearance in phases
between August 3 and December 2017.

While speaking in the state legislative Assembly, he said: “Human interventions often lead to manipulations of the system and delay projects causing inconvenience to innocent people. We have to deal with his menace firmly.”

The Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) projects, however, will require consent from 70 per cent residents and they would be subjected to online clearance. If a developer fails to start work within three months after taking up a project, the SRA will take over the work.

Starting August 3, all building proposals in the municipal council will be cleared online and put up on a digital platform. Gradually, it would be extended to the municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The entire process of building proposal clearance in Maharashtra would be completed by December.

Stating the larger objective of these reforms, Fadnavis said, redevelopment of any project with consent of 51 per cent should be completed within 90 days. The project cannot be kept on hold forever. In cases where norms are not adhered to, people will have the right to form a cooperative and appoint their own developer.

The decision was taken after several redevelopment projects were subjected to repeated sabotage in the hands of developers.

Fadnavis admitted that often redevelopment projects land up in battles with developers, which is detrimental to residents’ welfare and have to be dealt with. In two years, the SRA has enabled to create 36,000 houses, he said. The redevelopment of 56 colonies of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) will create 2.5 lakh houses.

Story continues below this ad

The BBD chawl redevelopment project is under process and a component will be marked to accommodate eligible police personnel in the project where each tenement will measure 508 sq ft.

Under RERA, the state government has got 2,100 developers and 4,682 projects have been enrolled. There are 6,748 applications received till date.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram