Saturday, Apr 27, 2024 | Last Update : 11:39 AM IST
Government eyes green zone for housing
State mulls opening green plots in Mumbai for affordable homes.
Mumbai: Maharashtra government is likely to open green zones in the city to pave a way for constructing affordable houses in Mumbai.
The government has come under pressure to build the 20 lakh affordable houses promised by 2019, but no houses have been built in the last two years due to lack of land in the city.
The demand for the affordable houses is more in Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). However, the city has space crunch and land is not available as per the need. The government is hoping that the Centre would permit saltpan lands and green zones in the city to be used for building affordable houses. “We expect that the Centre would permit construction on the saltpan land where we can build affordable housing. The government is also mulling to open green zones for (building affordable houses). There are many slums in Mumbai, which are built on green zones. If we get to develop them then thousands of affordable houses can be built there,” an official from the housing department said.
There is not much demand for affordable housing in other parts of the state and therefore the government is trying to create a land bank in the city, the official added.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had promised to construct 20 lakh affordable houses by 2019 for the citizens. However, the government has failed to get land to build the houses. Despite the government’s announcement, it has not built a single house till today. In a recent development, the government has increased the area for affordable housing in the city by 80 hectares — including 55 hectares of the Mumbai Port Trust’s (MbPT) land. The MbPT has also given its agreement to provide land for affordable housing.
After making the announcement for regarding affordable housing, the government has come under pressure to complete its target, the official said. The government is trying its best to acquire land and construct houses. However, land crunch in Mumbai is bad and there are no takers for affordable houses outside MMR.
