Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Chief Minister gives his nod to low-cost housing proposal




Mumbai: A Mumbaikars dream to own a house in the city may just come true.
In a significant order aimed at creating affordable housing in the city, chief minister Ashok Chavan has approved a proposal that says a portion of a plot has to be reserved for low-cost housing. The plots in question have to be of a minimum area of 2,000 sq m (half-an-acre) or above and reserved for the middle-income, low-in-come and economically weaker sections of society.
  Thought creating affordable housing was part of the Housing Policy announced in 2007, it is only now that the government has finally taken concrete steps to make it a reality. The order, according to Mantralaya officials, was signed by Chavan on Sunday evening and it will be issued, the order will come into immediate effect.
According to the order, developers in the city planning residential complexes on plots measuring 2,000 sq metres or more will have to compulsorily reserve 20% to 25% of the total built-up area for the middle class and the poor. The homes for the economically weaker sections and low-in-come groups will be 300-400 sq ft in size, while for the middle class, it will be 410-600sq ft.
However, builders are not too keen. Sunil Mantri, who heads the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry that represents leading developers, said, “Many of the developers are constructing highend, luxury projects and this low-cost housing plan will affect the viability of those projects. This policy should have been restricted to townships. However, we have no option but to implement it.” 
The fiat was issued under Section 154 of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act, said an official. However, activist and lawyer y p Singh said the Section could be used only for issuing directives of a clarificatory nature and it did not have legal sanctity. “For the order tobe implemented, the Act must be amended and there must be a penal provision in case of breach of the order.”
One of the major failures of the Urban land Ceiling Regulation Act (Ulcra) was that while homes were built for the lower strata of society they were merged and sold as one large unit. The Hiranandani complex at Powai derived benefits as a low-cost housing project but amalgamated flats into larger group to emerge as an upmarket residential address.  
“To ensure that this does not happen, BMC officials will have to scrutinize the building and verify that the flats have not been amalgamated. It will be a pre-condition for occupation certificates,” said officials in the absence of an occupation certificate, residents have to pay double the amount as water and sewerage charges.
Officials admitted that the low-cost homes might turn into servants’ quarters for the rich residents. “But even they need a home,” said an official.
Ajit Khatri, president, practicing Engineers, said people from different strata might not want to stay together. “It is a good effort by the state. But nowadays, houses come with pools, club houses and fitness centres, as a result of which, the monthly maintenance is quite high and many people may not be able to afford it. It would be better to construct a separate low cost building.”
 As Per TOI Report Dated 14/09/2010,Page 2

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