Mhada to build 1 lakh affordable houses

If things go according to plan, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) will build one lakh affordable homes in two phases on the state government’s land under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme.

While interacting with reporters, S.S. Zende, vice-president, Mhada, said, “We have identified 450 hectares of land in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) which is currently reserved as state government land. Our focus currently is only on those locations where there is rail and road connectivity.”

He added, “Nothing is concrete yet, we just have identified land and it will take time to come out with a roadmap on the project. We also need various clearances from the state government and the urban development department. We have targeted places like Vasai, Virar, Raigad, Palghar, Karjat and Kalyan where there is land available in abundance, currently under reserved category and owned by the state government.”However, this project is not the part of state government’s announcement of constructing 11 lakh affordable houses in Mumbai and MMR region.

Vijay Lahane, in-charge of Konkan board (Mhada), said, “We have identified 23 plots in Ratnagiri, Raigad and some parts of Thane districts and there is wider scope to have affordable houses in this region. We are planning to build houses for economically weaker sections (EWG), middle-income group (MIG) and lower income groups (LIG).”

He further added, “We have given proposals to various collectors of the regions we have identified for construction of houses and we are yet to receive approvals for the same.”

The Maharashtra government also plans to use defence land, airport authority land and Bombay Port Trust land for construction of affordable homes.

Rajesh Prajapati, president, MCHI Raigad, said, “The state government should also consider private developers. Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) is something that can also be considered for the purpose. It is better to have various players rather than just one agency being assigned the task of constructing more affordable houses.”

Earlier this month, the urban development department had directed the Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to prepare a plan for construction affordable housing on saltpan land, but experts have claimed that construction on saltpan land is going to be a costly affair.

Phase-1 of PMAY will span from April 2015 to March 2017 and a total of 100 cities would see the developmental work started and completed during this phase. Phase-2 will span from April 2017 to March 2019 and during this phase, a total of 200 more cities would be covered and developed.

Phase-3 will span from April 2019 to March 2022 and during this phase the left over cities would be covered and developed.