MHADA targets high income group

MHADA, whose land bank in Mumbai is shrinking, is looking to build about 350 houses in Bandra (East) for the high-income group (HIG).

The board plans to build the houses on a plot in Bharatnagar after dismantling a transit camp there.

"The land is earmarked for commercial use. We have sent a request to the urban development department to change the reservation. We cannot start the project till that is done," said Niranjankumar Sudhanshu, chief officer of MHADA Mumbai board.

The transit camp at Bharatnagar was built in 1989-90 on Prime Minister grant for affordable housing during the tenure of Rajiv Gandhi. It has about 750 tenants who would be given alternative accommodation in other MHADA colonies or shifted to other transit camps.

MHADA plans to build 350 90-square-metre tenements on the 1.5-hectare plot, said an engineer with the authority. The houses will be allocated through a lottery at much lower than the market rate.

"MHADA has not undertaken construction of HIG houses for a couple of years," the engineer said, adding, "HIG houses help in cross-subsidising tenements we build for the low-income group."

As per MHADA norms, people with a monthly income of more than Rs 20,000 are eligible to apply for HIG houses.

"The exercise to determine how many people are genuinely eligible for alternative accommodation and how many have encroached on the transit camp will begin soon," the engineer said.

To get the project rolling soon after the land reservation is changed, MHADA has simultaneously applied to the state expert appraisal panel for environmental clearance.

The plan

The transit camp at Bharatnagar was built in 1989-90 on Prime Minister grant for affordable housing during the tenure of Rajiv Gandhi

It has about 750 tenants who would be given alternative accommodation in other MHADA colonies or shifted to other transit camps

The houses will be allocated through a lottery at much lower than the market rate

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