Projects stuck as top MHADA post vacant since December

As many as 177 projects proposed under redevelopment of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority colonies are pending since last December for want of a green signal from the housing board.

As many as 177 projects proposed under redevelopment of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) colonies are pending since last December for want of a green signal from the housing board. The tardy approval process is owing to the absence of a permanent head for MHADAs Mumbai Board since the last chief officer (CO) Satish Bhide,an IAS officer,put in his papers last year,say Mumbai Board officials.

Since December 2010,there have been seven officials holding temporary charge as CO of the board. This has had an adverse impact on the approval process as the COs file noting and sanction are required before the redevelopment proposals are placed before the members for final approval, said a Mumbai Board member who did not want to be named.

Redevelopment of MHADA colonies assumes importance in the face of MHADAs shrinking land bank in Mumbai. There are a total of 3,844 buildings in 56 MHADA colonies spread over 1,500 hectares of land in Mumbai. With each building that is redeveloped by a private developer,two-thirds of the additional houses left over after rehabilitating the existing residents go to MHADAs public housing stock.

In December 2008,the state government had hiked the FSI for redevelopment of MHADA colonies to 2.5. In the two years since then (December 2008-2010),a total of 490 projects have been sanctioned by the Board with only 73 proposals cleared since December last year,confirmed Mumbai Board chairman Amarjeet Singh Manhas.

A total of 563 proposals have been placed before members of the Mumbai Board till date. But the approval process has slowed down greatly over the past seven months due to some issues, he said.

Proposals for redevelopment of MHADA colonies in Mumbai are first screened by a special cell at MHADA and then forwarded to the CO for observations before being sent to the board members. Mumbai Board member and Congress MLA Krishna Hegde pointed out that since Bhide left,seven officers with many holding others posts have been given additional charge as CO of Mumbai Board.

When officials hold temporary postings,they are hesitant to take any decisions. The government should at the earliest appoint a permanent IAS officer who holds the post for a stipulated period of time so that the movement of these files is not affected, said Hegde.

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