MHADA appoints Keystone Realtors to redevelop Sindhi refugee families’ residences at Mumbai’s GTB Nagar

Around 1,200 Sindhi families had to shift to temporary accommodation in 2020 after the apartments, which were built in 1958, were declared unsafe by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The buildings were subsequently demolished, and the Maharashtra government approved a redevelopment scheme after repeated pleas by tenant societies, although the land is in private ownership.

As per the redevelopment proposal, all 1,200 eligible families will be given a free flat of 635 square feet, with MHADA paying Rs 20,000 monthly rent until they get their possession and pay maintenance expenses for five years after redevelopment.

The State Cabinet cleared the proposal on February 14, 2024, and a resolution was issued on February 23, 2024, authorising MHADA to be the Special Planning Authority.

“It is for the first time that MHADA is redeveloping on private land as a chosen development agency. A 5-7 member committee of society representatives would be constituted to oversee the project and MHADA will give complete support so that the rehabilitation is done on time,” Jaiswal said, adding that the project shall be carried out under the Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) Regulation 33(9).

The scheme permits a minimum Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4.5, including a fungible area. MHADA will get 25,700 square metres of the built-up area as housing stock.

According to MHADA officials, legal actions in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court had delayed the project.

A final ruling by the Supreme Court in 2024 permitted MHADA to go ahead, establishing a precedent for such future redevelopments.

Upon approval from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in February last year, MHADA moved on the orders to bring the project on track.

The redevelopment scheme is based on the current redevelopment of BDD Chawl in Mumbai, officials said.