Mumbai : The government would amend legislation to protect the rights of tenants in the old cessed buildings that are in a dilapidated condition, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced at the Legislative Assembly here on Thursday.
A bill in this effect would be introduced in the monsoon session itself. If the bill couldn’t be introduced, an ordinance would be promulgated immediately, he added while replying to debate over the calling attention motion moved by Atul Bhatkhalkar. We shall ensure that the tenants would be able to get their own house, he said.
“There are set legislations for the redevelopment of these old buildings. But, it has been observed that loopholes in the legislation are used against the interests of tenants of these old buildings and norms are flouted. Hence, government would make all efforts to protect the rights of these tenants through amendments in the legislation,” Fadnavis said.
Cessed buildings are those structures whose occupants pay a repair cess (tax) to Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
MCGM has issued evacuation notices to tenants in thousands of cessed buildings, which are dilapidated, under section 354 of the Corporation Act. Tenants are not ready to vacate as they are not sure of getting their homes back after redevelopment of the buildings. This is one of the prime causes of loss of lives in incidences of building collapse. The government needs to address the issue, Bhatkhalkar said in his notice.
Most of the BJP MLAs from the city participated in the debate. Yogesh Sagar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Raj Purohit too participated in the debate.
Ashish Shelar said that 2,117 buildings in Mumbai are declared ‘dangerous’. They contain 712 of C1 category and around 1,400 are from C2A and C2B category, where repairs can be done without vacating the buildings. Many a times tenants are asked to vacate flats but repairs are not carried out. He demanded that there needs to be a clause to ensure time-bound repairs with provision for fine.
Replying to these demands, Fadnavis said that government is of the view that tenants should get their dues and the act would be amended to ensure that they get houses and the amendment would be moved in the monsoon session itself.
Replying to supplementary questions, the Chief Minister said chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya has held two meetings regarding status of the deemed conveyance.
“We are gathering information as to why the deemed conveyance process has come to a standstill and what are the problems faced. A new policy is expected by December to expedite the process,” he added.
Many members also complained that absence of a proper transit accommodation was the reason that tenants do not wish to shift out of their homes.
“Lack of proper transit accommodation is the biggest problem faced in redevelopment projects,” they said.
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10,000 houses for mill workers by yr-end: CM
Mumbai : The State government would initiate process of distribution of 10,000 houses for mill workers by December 2015, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a statement made at the assembly here on Thursday. Total 8,710 more houses would be made available for mill workers by December 2016, he added.
State government had initiated the process for distributing houses to workers of the closed textile mills in the city way back in 2001. Under this scheme, the mill workers are entitled to get houses of 225 sqft. Total 6,925 houses were built under the scheme and 5,644 have already been transferred to eligible applicants. Fadnavis made it clear that 6,794 new houses are in under construction stage and the third phase would involve construction of 2,911 houses.
Apart from these houses developed by MHADA, MMRDA would transfer 4,800 houses under the scheme. Thus, a total of 10,000 houses would be available for distribution by this year end.
MMRDA would make 8,710 more houses available for the scheme by next year end that is December 2016, Fadnavis said. There had been 1,48,067 applications when lottery was drawn for the first phase in 2012. Government would ask the MHADA and the MMRDA to build more houses in MMR to implement the scheme, Fadnavis added.
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Deemed conveyance policy in next session
Chief Minister also said that there are several complaints about the deemed conveyance. “Several loopholes have been left in the legislation and that too need to be done away with. A committee under chief secretary is collecting information on the issue and a new policy would be rolled out during next session of assembly,” he said.
The Chief Minster also said that the government would take tough action against illegal occupants of transit camps.
