Mhada plans Rs 3,500 crore housing project in Aarey

Mumbai: After much criticism against utilising Aarey land for housing purposes, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has floated tenders worth Rs 3,500 crore to construct houses for rehabilitating slum dwellers from Maroshi in Andheri and tribal from Sanjay Gandhi National Park. According to the tenders, the tribals will be relocated into ground plus one row house structures, which will have a courtyard, while the slum dwellers will be shifted to tenements of multi-storeyed buildings.

Recently, the state had given 90 acres of land inside Aarey, close to the Metro-3 car shed, to resettle the tribals and slum dwellers. The project, which aims to be completed in four years, has proposed to build nearly 2,000 units for the tribals, while nearly 25,000 tenements are proposed to be built for the slum dwellers. “Mhada is not going to pay the contractors taking over the project, instead TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) will be exchanged. Therefore, the bidding will be done on the least TDR quoted,” said a senior Mhada official. The winning firm will get the development rights outside Aarey.

According to the tender documents, 43-acre land will be used for tribal housing, which will have 300 sq. ft. space for each unit with an open courtyard and individual terrace. While the multi-storeyed structures planned for slum dwellers will come up on 47-acre of land, with each tenement admeasuring 300 sq. ft.

Initially, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) had conceptualised a township on the 90-acre land, but it faced stiff opposition from environmentalists. Later, the project was taken over the Mhada.