Approving the redevelopment of the 143-acre Motilal Nagar MHADA layout at Goregaon West, the state housing department in a Government Resolution (GR) said it will be subject to the orders of the Bombay High Court.
Declaring the redevelopment as a special project, the housing department said it will generate 33,000 tenements.
Given the spread of the layout, MHADA has been allowed to construct residential and commercial blocks. The redevelopment of Motilal Nagar is an exception, and will not be used as a precedent for the redevelopment of other layouts, states the GR.
Two public interest litigations were filed before the Bombay High Court in 2012 and 2013 asking for demolition of illegal constructions carried out by residents. The high court had directed MHADA to carry out redevelopment of the layout on its own. Recently, the cabinet approved the redevelopment of the layout.
The Government Resolution issued on Tuesday points out that MHADA does not have the money to carry out the redevelopment, and hence will appoint a construction and development agency to build 33,000 tenements.
The PIL is pending before the high court. The GR states, “Final work order not to be issued and actual work not to be started without the appropriate orders of the court in terms of pending applications.”
It was in the 1960s that MHADA had constructed 3,700 tenements of 230 sq feet each as part of a Slum Rehabilitation Scheme. There are only 106 tenements per hectare (2.5 acres) as against 450 tenements per hectare permitted under the Development Control and Promotion Regulations – 2034.
The proposed construction and development agency will be allowed a floor space index of 4. It will neither be allowed to transfer development rights nor create thirdparty interest without prior approval from MHADA.
