Mumbai: In a significant move to accelerate the redevelopment of Mumbai's ageing and dilapidated cessed buildings, the Maharashtra Legislature has passed an amendment to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development (MHADA) Act, seeking to remove legal hurdles that had stalled action under Section 79A.
Amendment addresses Bombay High Court stay on MHADA notices
The amendment addresses the legal ambiguity that led the Bombay High Court to stay the implementation of Section 79A and nearly 935 notices issued by MHADA, after observing that the powers may have been exercised without proper statutory authorisation.
Under the revised law, the term "Competent Authority" has been replaced with a provision explicitly authorising officers designated by MHADA to exercise powers under Section 79A, thereby providing a clear legal framework for redevelopment-related action.
Move expected to revive stalled redevelopment projects across Mumbai
The amendment is expected to revive redevelopment proposals for thousands of ageing cessed buildings across Mumbai, many of which have remained stalled for years due to landlord-tenant disputes, prolonged litigation and resistance from property owners despite the unsafe condition of several structures.
Mumbai has more than 13,000 cessed buildings, most of them constructed before 1940, housing lakhs of residents. Redevelopment of these buildings has long been considered a critical urban renewal and public safety challenge.
Sections 79A and 79B introduced after deadly building collapses
Sections 79A and 79B were incorporated into the MHADA Act in 2020 following a series of fatal building collapses, including the Husaini Building collapse in 2017 that claimed 33 lives, the Dongri building collapse in 2019 in which 14 people died, and the Fort building collapse in 2020 that killed 10 people.
The provisions empower MHADA to intervene where landlords fail to redevelop dangerous buildings and allow tenants to undertake redevelopment themselves after securing the consent of at least 51 per cent of occupants.
The urgency of redevelopment is underscored by data obtained through the Right to Information Act which shows that Mumbai recorded 345 incidents of full or partial building collapses between 2021 and August 2025, leaving eight people dead and 28 injured.
MHADA's own records further reveal that building collapses claimed 815 lives between 1970 and 2018, highlighting the continuing human cost of delays in redeveloping the city's ageing housing stock.
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