The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will conduct a joint meeting on pending water bills and cess arrears said Vinod Ghosalkar Chairman of Mumbai Building Repairs and Redevelopment Board (MBRRB).
He explained, "In many of transit camp buildings of MBRRB the BMC has disconnected the water supply connection following failure to clear the bills. The board is not getting the annual cess from BMC and therefore the bills have not been cleared." In the meeting a solution to the issue will be resolved. As between the dispute of two authorities BMC and MBRRB the residents are suffering he asserted.
The BMC has disconnected water supply in transit camps located in Andheri, Borivali Dahisar. The local politicians are supplying water through tankers to these buildings as a temporary solution, Ghosalkar stated.
The MBRRB should be paid Rs 10 crore annually by BMC as less collection. However from 2013 the arrears have not been cleared. Besides, government of Maharashtra also pays Rs 100 crore to the board for carrying out the repairs of buildings and other allied works but due to Covid-19 situation it has asked the board to take funds from MHADA.
MBRRB charge Rs 500 per tenement staying in transit houses along with water facility. Ghosalkar asserted, "the expenses of one house I am average is of Rs 2200. But since these transit structures are in bad condition we cannot increase the monthly rental. The board is suffering from huge loses only redevelopment of old structures is the only solution."
The FPJ had reported about the MBRRB transit camp redevelopment plan. The board has a total of 58 transit camps, of which 20 have already been developed, and the remaining 38 transit camps will now be redeveloped. Through this revamp plan, about 10,000 new transit housing stock will be generated. These houses will be sold through lottery scheme and the project will be recovered.
