MMRDA for homes on saltpans

Experts say construction of saltpan land is going to be a costly affair

The Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will come out with a plan in the next three months on the usage of saltpan land in the city for construction of affordable housing. This comes after the urban development department had earlier this month directed the MMRDA to prepare a plan for construction of affordable housing on the saltpan land.

There is about 5,000 acres of saltpans land lying vacant in the city, which the urban development department plans to use for construction of affordable housing.

A senior MMRDA official, on condition of anonymity, said, “It will take us three months to study and prepare a plan on whether saltpan land can be used for construction of affordable housing. Our focus currently is on saltpan land only in the city, but it seems it will be very difficult to acquire saltpans for affordable housing. There are a number of environment clearances required for any type of construction on it.”

He further added, “We will also have to consider Development Control (DC) rules and Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) guidelines which is likely to create many obstruction when it comes to acquiring saltpan land. There are other issues like the ownership titles of various saltpan lands and also there is encroachment on many saltpan lands. It is not a good idea because the amount of saltpan land that will be left after considering all the issues, will be very less.”

According to reports, the state has about 12,000 acres of saltpan land lying vacant, of which 5,000 acres is in Mumbai.

Rishi Agarwal, environment activist, said, “Saltpan land provides important economic and environment services to the city in terms of flood control and they should not be touched. If the government wants to create more affordable housing it should focus more on redeveloping slums, which can create enough stock for homes.”

Bandra-based developer Shekhar Tolani said, “To construct a structure on saltpan land there’s a different procedure as compared to that constructing on normal land. The foundation of the plinth has to be constructed stronger and it is a costly procedure. If the construction cost goes up the cost of the flats in the building will also go up, which contradicts the purpose of having affordable houses on saltpan land.”

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