Mumbai: MHADA to take action against builders living in transit camps without paying rent

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) proposes to take strict action against those builders who are living in transit camps without paying any rent. The housing body plans to seize their properties and auction them to recover the rent charges.

The MHADA authorities have identified at least 45 such builders who are residing in at least 100 to 150 transit camps and are yet to pay a cumulative rent amount of Rs 70 crore to MHADA. This recovery amount came to the fore during the survey conducted by the authorities between 2010 and 2013.

“The survey revealed that at least Rs 142 crore is to be recovered from the builders as rent charges. Out of this, at least Rs 70 crore has been recovered. We provide transit camp facility to the builders and developers who undertake MHADA projects,” said a senior MHADA official.

The officials have also sent a proposal to the collector to obtain details of the property owned by the builders. “It is important that we recover the rent amount from them. As a part of our action, we have also issued notices to them to discontinue their project work,” added the official.

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The builders living in transit camps in South Mumbai are required to pay a rent amount of Rs 10,000 to MHADA. The officials are set to black list those builders who have not paid the rent charges and will be informing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to freeze their bank accounts.

“We have also sought details related to immovable properties of builders from the respective collectors, superintendent and sub-registrar. We have issued a proposal in this regards to collectors from regions of Raigad, Palghar, Thane and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) where the builders own their respective flats and land,” added the official.