The Maharashtra government has admitted that 50,000 people in Mumbai are living in a dangerous condition in 14,207 cessed buildings, which are in a dilapidated condition. The redevelopment of the buildings is stuck due to paucity of funds resulting from the economic slowdown, Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad said in the Assembly on Tuesday, while discussing the issue of dilapidated buildings.
Last year, the then BJP government had amended the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) Act 1976 to speed up the cluster redevelopment of cessed buildings. The decision came in the wake of a building crash in Dongri area that killed 13 people and injured more than 10 others in July 2019.
The cessed buildings are protected under the Rent Control Act, and the rents in these buildings are frozen at the level of 1948. The owners of these buildings lost interest in repairs and maintenance, so the state government in the 1970s handed over the responsibility of repairs and maintenance to MHADA. In lieu of repairing these buildings, MHADA levies cess or repair tax on tenants and that is why these are called cessed buildings.
In a written reply in the Assembly, Awhad said “There are 14,207 cessed buildings. Out of these, redevelopment of 31 buildings is pending with MHADA. Many buildings are beyond repair. The structures have become weak as the owners/tenants did not pay attention to their repair. It is true that the slowdown in the construction industry has delayed the redevelopment process.”
Replying to a query on halting of the projects, the minister agreed that nine projects have been stopped in south Mumbai due to the cost escalation and increase in land prices.
Amin Patel, Congress MLA from Mumbadevi, where the maximum number of cessed buildings is awaiting redevelopment, said that cluster development would help. “There are many cessed buildings that need urgent redevelopment, but the developers have no money. Our government has decided to develop areas like Kamathipura under the cluster development which would help the tenants who are staying in these old buildings,” Patel said.
Satyanand Gajelli, a tenant of a building in Kamathipura lane 6, said that his building is at least 75 years old. “We tried to find a builder for the redevelopment, but did not succeed. The developers have no money. We are hoping that MHADA takes up our redevelopment work only through the cluster approach,” he said. Gajelli’s building has 28 tenants.
