MMRDA’s rental scheme a non-starter?

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Even as it has been five years since the MMRDA’s rental-housing scheme was launched amidst much fanfare to stem the exponential mushrooming of slums in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the future of this project seems uncertain. Now, the state seems to have finally sealed its fate by announcing that over 50 per cent of these flats will be handed over as transit camps to families evacuated from dangerous and dilapidated buildings.
According to experts, while this step may speed up the evacuation process of residents from dangerous buildings living in Mumbai and Thane, it also puts a big question mark on the continuation of the rental-housing scheme. Doubts over the status of this project started cropping up way back in 2011 when the state government formed a committee to look if the nature of the project could be changed from rental to affordable houses on ownership basis.
MMRDA launched the scheme in October 2008 with the aim of constructing five lakh houses in five years — one lakh each year — and to allot it on a rental basis to those living in the state with a domicile certificate. However, five years down the line, the MMRDA has managed to get possession of only 1,480 flats, highlighting the scheme’s colossal failure. “Till June 2013, we got possession of 1,480 flats from the Dosti Corporation, but those flats have already been earmarked for Mumbra residents who are being evicted from their dilapidated buildings; so after five years, we don’t even have a single flat to give out on rent as was propounded in the beginning of the project,” said an officer attached with this project, adding, “Now, with 50 per cent of the flats being given to transit camps, and the government further contemplating if it can give a few per cent of the flats to mill workers, nothing can be said about this project’s future anymore.”
Joint project director of MMRDA Dilip Kawathkar said, “By the end of this year, we will get possession of 7,375 flats and by next year, we are going to get possession of thousands more in quick succession.” However, on the question of why the MMRDA failed to procure the flats as per the deadline fixed, he stated, “We are not a sanctioning authority; we just give clearance for the location of the project. The concerned developer then contacts the local bodies for other various approvals. As soon as the builder gets the approval, he starts construction which takes as much time as it takes in other construction projects.” However, when Metropolitan commissioner Rahul Asthana took charge in March 2012, he had emphasised that the MMRDA would start the allotment of flats from June 2012 itself, but interestingly, the MMRDA has not even come up with an allotment policy yet.
The MMRDA received 204 rental-housing proposals from private developers. Of these, location clearance was given to 41 projects for a total of 2.55 lakh rental units. However, according to data obtained from the MMRDA, actual work has started only on 31 sites that will generate around 62,000 rental houses by Dec 2016. The builders involved in these projects are Ackruti, Dosti, Maje-stic and Chedda developers in Manpada-Thane; Indiabulls, Supreme, Adhiraj in Panvel and Lodha, DB Realty in Mira-Bhayander.
A builder involved in the project, on condition of anonymity, said, “Getting the NOCs from dozens of authorities inv-olved pushed this scheme miles behind. We had to wait almost two years to get one clearance. The MMRDA only issued the clearance for the location, we had to run pillar to post to get further approvals.” He further added, “Even the FSI of four proved to be a big hindrance in the path of this project, and it burdened our work manifold.”
An expert in housing issues and executive editor of a real estate newspaper, Dr Sanjay Chatur-vedi said, “The MMRDA’s initial ineptness in not preparing for the project, complemented by its poor planning later on led to the complete downfall this project.” He added that the project should have been a bit more builder-friendly which would have made it a lot more feasible.