No occupation certificate in 4 years, but 18 towers in Tilak Nagar still stand tall

The housing authority has not issued its no-objection certificate for the grant of an OC as the developers or the societies have not made the complete payment for the incentive floor-space index (FSI) granted to them. FSI refers to the ratio of the total floor area of the building to the size of the plot.

Niranjankumar Sudhanshu, chief officer of MHADA’s Mumbai board, said, “A rough estimate of the total amount pending from all the societies put together is about Rs 15 crore. We have sent them letters and reminders and  have not issued our no-objection certificate. People even stay in these buildings.”

An OC is issued by the BMC to signify that the building is complete as per the approved plan and is in compliance with law. It is difficult to get water and sanitary connections without this certificate, and financial institutions do not  sanction loans against flats in the absence of an OC.

A MHADA official, on condition of anonymity, said the 18 societies, comprising mostly single buildings, were redeveloped after 2007 under the Development Control Rules 33/5 that pertain to the redevelopment of MHADA buildings.

“The incentive FSI under the development control rules was at that time granted at a zonal amount fixed for the area, as the policy for calculation as per the ready reckoner rate was underway, but it had not taken effect. Once the policy is introduced, the society or the developer on behalf of the society will have to pay the differential amount,” the official said and added that the incentive FSI was calculated at 40 per cent of the ready reckoner rate.

The official added that the matter came to fore recently when one of the societies came forward to complain and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan sought more information on the matter.

Clifford Rebello, a resident of Tilak Nagar and a local activist, said, “Only a handful of buildings in Tilak Nagar have an OC. Several buildings without an OC have also managed to get water connections from the local body at a 30 per cent mark-up.”

manasi.phadke@expressindia.com