Out of 15k, Mhada completes construction of 2.5K homes

Mumbai: The Mumbai Board of Maharahtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) had set the target to construct more than 15,000 homes till 2020 for Mumbaikars, however till now only 2,500 homes have been constructed. The timeline began from 2015 and by 2018, the authority was expected to construct nearly 10,000 homes, revealed Uday Samant, newly appointed president of the housing authority. The officials claim encroachments and court cases as the reason behind the lag.

The authority may not be able to achieve the target since the work is way behind the schedule. Mr Samant has given the Mhada officials a time frame of eight days to get the data on encroached lands and the ones with pending litigations. The plan was to build around 15,239 affordable homes in Mumbai between 2015-2020.  

“Targets were set for each year, for the year of 2018-19 more than 10,000 were supposed to be constructed, but till now only 2,500 homes have been built. The main reason behind the delay is encroachments and litigations,” said Mr Samant. He further added, “Engineers have been instructed to inspect and get the data in eight days.”

Since Mhada has been designated as the planning authority, it will have jurisdiction in eliminating the encroachments without the interference of civic body.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai board is set to announce its much-delayed lottery for the year in Diwali for 1,001 homes in Mumbai.