MUMBAI, Nov 7: The State Government's decision to give an `unlimited' Floor Space Index (FSI) for the reconstruction of dilapidated structures in the island city, is going to cause unbelievable congestion and throttling of the city's already strained infrastructural amenities, the Action Committee for Protection of Tenants Rights charged on Friday.``There does not seem to be any study done by the Bihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the load that will be on the water supply and sewerage facilities, nor on the environmental impact such a huge investment would bring about,'' said Chandrashekhar Prabhu, noted architect and spokesperson of the committee.The BMC had last month sought public objections and suggestions to modify Development Control (DC) rules, to allow dilapidated structures within the island city an extra FSI of 50 per cent, so they could cross-subsidise the reconstruction costs. According to Prabhu, the buildings, most of which have many tenants living in small 10 X 10 sq ft houses,would gain an FSI to the tune of 15, leading to unimaginable congestion and attendant scarcity of water and sewerage facilities in such high-rises.The last date of the objections/suggestions being November 2, the Action Committee today addressed a press conference on the objections they have placed before the civic body. ``Not only will the outgoings in each flat will be high, but at least 15 lakh more people will be living in the island city'', he said. Prabhu said, the island city has amenity spaces of 0.3 acres for every 1000 persons, while cities like Delhi and Calcutta have 3.5 acres for every 1000 people.Prabhu, who is a former chairman of MHADA, pointed out that the DC modification was a policy shift from an earlier much avowed scheme of restricting FSI in an already overcrowded island city. The Action Committee criticised the Government for supporting the landlord-builder nexus. Pointing out that the State Government was scarcely bothered about tenants, Prabhu said that the Sena-BJP government hasnot yet appointed a counsel for the Supreme Court case where the landlords have challenged building acquisition, under Chapter VIII A of the MHADA Act. ``Just as the Rent Control Act was poorly defended by the State Government's counsel, the State Government has not even provided the papers of the MHADA case to the counsels, even though the case is already on the board,'' he said.In a case involving former Housing minister Chandrakant Khaire, Bombay High Court judge A P Shah in September quashed his stay order, in a matter concerning the acquisition of Dattatrey buildings of Grant Road by MHADA. The Action Committee observed that ``the corruption'' of Khaire had come into the fore and demanded that he either resign from his ministership or the Chief Minister remove him. Khaire is now the Transport Minister. In the Dattatrey case, MHADA had already acquired the building under the acquisition powers of VIII A of the MHADA Act, when the landlord, M S Jafar, asked Khaire to stay theacquisition.Commenting on Khaire's stay order, A P Shah noted that the stay was ``totally unwarranted and uncalled for''. The judge noted that the minister ``ought not to have passed the order of stay on the acquisition proceedings''.With this order, Prabhu hoped that more tenants from cessed buildings would approach MHADA for forming a cooperative society and propose schemes for reconstruction themselves. The Action Committee of the Tenants has for the first time brought together the Federation of Associations in Maharashtra, trade unions, traders, tenant organisations and the Associations of Hotels and Restaurants, in a concerted effort to oppose the State Government on the Rent Act and other issues. ``It will always be united in its actions against the State Government moves,'' said the Coodinator of the Committee, A D Golandaz, ``and we are ready to agitate on these issues, if need be''.
