Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) is ready to conduct a housing lottery draw in October for the tenants residing in the Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) chawls at NM Joshi Marg. An official said, "The lottery was supposed to be held in March. However, it was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Now, the state government has allowed us to carry out certain activities. We are seeking the time and date from the Chief Minister and Housing Minister, along with other dignitaries, for the programme."
The lottery draw will be held for those residents who were shifted to transit houses and have agreed to undertake redevelopment. Through this lottery scheme, tenants will get to know on which floor of the redeveloped building will their flat be. Moreover, a new house agreement will also be signed free of cost. "Basically, it will help build trust among the remaining tenants, who till date are hesitating to shift from their houses and are delaying the project. If the lottery is held, we are expecting that all may support the project positively," said the official.
According to MHADA records, only 269 tenants have shifted to the transit houses so far. In between, if more residents agree to shift, they too will be involved in the October lottery process, asserted the official. At the NM Joshi Marg BDD project, as per the approved plan, it will construct seven towers comprising 22 floors each in phase-1, which will house 1,200 tenements. To construct the seven new towers, 10 chawls are required to be demolished. Renowned developer Shapoorji Pallonji has been awarded the contract at NM Joshi Marg.
The then CM Devendra Fadnavis had performed the groundbreaking ceremony in April 2017. However, till date, not a single brick has been laid at any of the three BDD chawl layouts in Worli, Naigaon, including NM Joshi Marg.
