The Hindu Business Line : Old cessed buildings in South Mumbai to be redeveloped

Tight spaces
About 73% of occupants of these buildings live in one-room tenements.
From 1991 to ‘96, number of households was said to have gone up to 2,88,000.

S. Shanker

Mumbai, Sept. 6 Over two million people living in 19,672 old and dilapidated cessed buildings in South Mumbai stand to get new homes for free, with developers being provided the width to cross subsidise their construction cost through additional built-up area.

About 73 per cent of the occupants of these buildings live in one-room tenements and 18 per cent in two rooms. From 1991 to 1996, the number of households was said to have gone up to 2,88,000 with the maximum number of people residing in 100-120 sq ft area.

Almost all these buildings have common bathroom facilities. A 1980-81 Mumbai Corporation survey indicated that 30,237 such buildings would cross their lifespan by 1996. The developers need to offer the tenants 225 sq ft units each.

The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the restrictions imposed by the Mumbai High Court in 2006, which related to compulsory open space, certification under section 88 (3) under MHADA Act (Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority) and additional approvals from new committees for a building to be reconstructed.

Development rules

The Development Control Regulation Sec 33 (7) was introduced in 1991, and later amended in 1999 to accelerate the pace of redevelopment of the 19,642 old and dilapidated cessed properties. However, developers found the restrictions imposed by the Mumbai High Court too stringent.

The case primarily relates to 17,490 buildings which were built before September 1940. Decades ago, the government imposed a cess on the buildings to facilitate repair and maintenance as rentals were frozen with the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947, in force.

The landlords were found either unwilling or could not meet the expenditure for maintaining their buildings.

“A closer examination of the layout of the cessed properties negates provisions for stipulated open space in a few cases.

“A pragmatic approach being followed by MHADA and the Bombay Municipal Corporation in this regard was unfairly questioned by the petitioners. Similarly, the compulsory certification of a cessed property as to being beyond economical repairs as prescribed by the MHADA Act Section 88(3) was uncalled for.

“Spending up to Rs 1,200 per sq ft for repairs was unacceptable to a majority of tenants who are keen to acquire well ventilated and illuminated self contained flats on ownership basis under the redevelopment scheme,” said Mr Pujit Aggarwal , spokesperson of the Property Redevelopers Association.

Mr Rajesh B. Vardhan, Managing Director, Vardhman Developers, said with 70 per cent consent from tenants, besides their landlords, development now can be initiated.

On concerns of overload on infrastructure, Mr Vardhan said that given the number that needs to be redeveloped, and the delays, and procedures that had to be followed, besides obtaining the consent of landlords and tenants, it would take decades.

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