MHADA to acquire private land without government approval
MHADA will hereafter, be legally entitled to take possession of revenue land without government approval. In this regard, the state government intends to establish land banks in order to aid affordable housing options.
According to market news, the collector can have an advanced possession of land of up to two hectares. The divisional commissioner has been authorized to hand over five hectares of land to MHADA, to construct affordable housing units and the cost of the land will have to be borne by MHADA as per the ready reckoner rate.
According to government experts, such kind of possessions are generally allowed to government departments. However, since MHADA is a public undertaking, the government processed its request for land acquisition. Such direct transfer is likely to reduce the delay in land acquisition significantly. In order to build affordable housing units for the lower and middle class segment, MHADA can also purchase land from the market,
Generally, three types of land are selected for acquisition, namely:
- lands that cannot be developed quickly
- lands which need at least five years to develop
- lands which need at least 10 years to develop
The sole focus of MHADA is to offer housing to Mumbaikars in an affordable range, who cannot afford to buy properties at market rates. However, at present MHADA is experiencing land shortage since most of the government plots are not available and the flow of subsidized land from different sources has also come to an end. In the past, MHADA projects have been delayed due to land acquisition and opposition because of lower rates.
In the past, the Maharashtra government has offered an FSI 2.5 to landowners, who were ready to allow MHADA to build affordable houses on their property. According to the old provisions of the government, every such building constructed must have fewer flats for the economically deprived groups and middle income segments. However, such rule was not implemented and remained on paper.
According to market reports, the Maharashtra state government has modified the Development Control Rule of section 33(5) which regulates the reconstruction of MHADA properties. Such modification is likely to create around 20000 affordable housing units in Mumbai.
For low income groups the size of flats would be limited to 300 sq ft, whereas for the middle-income and high-income groups the size would be restricted to 600 sq ft and 800 sq ft. This will act as a major breakthrough and will solve the crisis for housing option in the city to a great extent.
