The Mumbai Building Repairs and Redevelopment Board (MBRRB) has sent draft guidelines to the state government to expedite the process of the redevelopment of cess properties. In this draft guidelines, the board has suggested the setting up of a monitoring committee comprising three members -architect, MBRRB official and local representative. Vinod Ghosalkar, chairman of MBRRB, said, "Developers take no objection certificate to undertake redevelopment. However, after a few years, the projects get stalled for different reasons. Therefore, in such times, the monitoring committee will be helpful to resolve the issue in a time-bound manner."
Ghosalkar furthermore asserted that, apart from setting up a committee, the developer will also have to open an escrow account, where they shall be depositing one year rent amount to be given to the affected tenants. For the remaining years, the board will take advance cheques so that the major hurdle of the non-payment of rents in several projects can be prevented.
Reportedly, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in November 2020 scrapped the September 11, 2019 GR, which had stalled redevelopment projects following stringent norms. Under the old GR, developers were required to have a total turnover of Rs 10 to Rs 50 crore in three years. Besides, the developer should have constructed 500 houses in a past project, only then would it be eligible for undertaking the redevelopment. Since the eligibility criteria is too high, the redevelopment of cess buildings has been affected. Arun Dongre, chief, MBRRB, said "We are processing the old files that were pending due to the old GR. After the state scrapped the GR, developers agreed to undertake redevelopment." He asserted that the state has asked to amend the criteria so we are focussing on it.
