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The Government of Maharashtra has tasked the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) with its most ambitious initiative: the BDD Chawl redevelopment project. This undertaking is among the state’s most significant efforts, covering approximately 92 acres and poised to become India’s largest urban renewal project, shared Shri Sanjeev Jaiswal, IAS, Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, MHADA, in an exclusive interaction with Puja Banerjee, Senior Assistant Editor of Elets News Network (ENN).

What is your vision for transforming Mumbai through housing and urban development?

Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the leading housing authority, has always been at the forefront of providing affordable houses to the state’s people across different income categories. MHADA launches a computerised draw to sell homes in Mumbai and across Maharashtra annually. I am proud to mention that MHADA has successfully taken the computerised lottery draw for nearly 50,000 houses in the last five years through its regional boards.

While leading MHADA, I envision making Mumbai a city where every resident can access quality and affordable housing, regardless of income level. MHADA aims to achieve this by accelerating affordable housing projects, ensuring transparency in housing allocations, and focusing on sustainable urban development. Through MHADA, we are committed to providing housing that meets the population’s immediate needs and enhances Mumbai’s overall quality of life.

What are the key challenges the housing sector faces in Mumbai in particular?

The housing sector in Mumbai faces a multifaceted array of challenges, including limited land availability, strained infrastructure, complex regulatory frameworks, and significant socio-economic issues. Addressing these challenges requires a coordinated approach involving policy reform, investment in infrastructure, and strategies to balance development with affordability and sustainability.

When we refer to the geography of Mumbai, it is located on a narrow peninsula with water on three sides and hills to the north. This geographical limitation restricts the amount of available land for new housing developments. The city’s terrain includes coastal areas, marshlands, and hills. Developing on these challenging landscapes can be difficult and expensive, making it harder to increase housing stock. The city’s constrained land area means that expansion is often vertical rather than horizontal. Mumbai is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. High population density places tremendous pressure on the available land and exacerbates the demand for housing.

Housing is always a challenge in developing countries due to ageing infrastructure. The existing utility systems (water, electricity, sewage) are often stretched to their limits, making it harder to support new housing projects with significant investment required in upgrading these systems. Besides, FSI plays a vital role in housing development in Mumbai by regulating the amount of buildable space on a given plot of land. It influences housing density, development patterns, and the overall urban landscape. Also, socio-economic issues like affordability, and income inequality are contributory factors.

How is MHADA addressing the challenge of providing affordable housing in the state and a city in particular as densely populated as Mumbai?

MHADA takes a multifaceted approach to affordable housing in Maharashtra, particularly in densely populated Mumbai. This includes developing new housing projects, collaborating with private developers, and implementing housing schemes of the centre, like PMAY, focusing on economically weaker sections. By combining these strategies, MHADA aims to increase the availability of affordable housing and improve living conditions for the residents of Mumbai and the broader state.

Being the Nodal agency of the state of Maharashtra in the housing sector, MHADA is blessed with land banks. During the last 75 years, MHADA has constructed nearly nine lakh houses across the state under different housing schemes, of which 2.25 lakhs are alone in Mumbai. MHADA has almost 114 layouts of Mumbai and almost 13,000 old and dilapidated cessed buildings in south Mumbai.

Thus, vertical development would help in increasing the number of housing units. As we spoke about the land constraints, MHADA is almost exhausted with the land bank provided by the state government. Hence, the redevelopment of its old colonies in Mumbai suburbs and old and worn-cessed buildings in the island city of Mumbai can be an excellent opportunity to increase housing. Thus, vertical development would help increase the number of housing units. Notably, MHADA’s Slum Improvement Board also contribute to its objective of improving the standard of living of the slum residents.

The slum improvement board focuses on upgrading the standard of living by providing basic amenities like toilets, pathways, and streetlights and beautifying the city. By focusing on slum improvements and affordable housing, MHADA helps improve the overall living conditions in Mumbai. Better housing contributes to improved health, education, and economic opportunities for residents.

What steps is MHADA taking to modernize the housing infrastructure in Mumbai?

Modernisation of housing infrastructure is a crucial priority for MHADA. We incorporate modern construction technologies and green building practices in all new developments. This includes using prefabricated construction methods, energyefficient designs, and smart home features. Additionally, we are upgrading the infrastructure in existing housing colonies, including better roads, drainage systems, and community amenities. We focus on creating durable, aesthetically pleasing, and environmentally sustainable housing.

Besides, MHADA is taking a multifaceted approach to modernising housing infrastructure in Mumbai. Through redevelopment projects, incorporating modern amenities, sustainable practices, improved planning, and publicprivate partnerships, MHADA aims to create housing that meets contemporary standards and supports a high quality of living. By focusing on these areas, MHADA is working to address the challenges of urbanisation and ensure that Mumbai’s housing infrastructure keeps pace with the city’s growth and evolving needs.

The private market players are different from the competition for MHADA as we aim to provide affordable housing to the last section of society. The housing colonies, constructed from 1950 to 1990, were all well equipped with the facilities a particular township would require. There were gardens, playgrounds, community halls, health care centres, anganwadis, and a board office at the local level. Now, many projects have shopping areas in their housing colonies. The Row House project in Malad, Dindoshi, Mumbai, sets a benchmark for luxurious homes. The Pahadi Goregaon luxury housing project, located in North Mumbai, even has a swimming pool. MHADA has provided solar panels for the Taliye rehabilitation project in the Raigad district to make our houses more sustainable.

MHADA also promotes green building practices in its projects. These include the use of sustainable materials, energyefficient designs, and systems for rainwater harvesting and waste recycling.

What are the future plans of MHADA to further contribute to the transformation of Mumbai that could change the city’s skyline?

Looking ahead, MHADA is focused on expanding its role in Mumbai’s transformation by increasing the pace of affordable housing development and exploring new areas for urban renewal.

The Government of Maharashtra has tasked MHADA with its most ambitious initiative: the BDD Chawl redevelopment project. This undertaking is among the state’s most significant efforts, covering approximately 92 acres and poised to become India’s largest urban renewal project. The historic chawls in Worli, Naigaon, and N.M. Joshi Marg is set to be transformed into modern residences. This redevelopment will provide approximately 16,000 families who have lived in 160-square-foot rooms for generations with accessible, contemporary 2-BHK apartments of 500 square feet.

The current distribution includes 3,344 tenements in Naigaon, 2,560 in N.M. Joshi Marg, and 9,680 in Worli. In addition, MHADA is actively pursuing the redevelopment of several older housing colonies, including Patra Chawl, Motilal Nagar, Abhudya Nagar, Bandra Reclamation, and Adarsh Nagar. The Samta Nagar redevelopment project in Kandivali is also noteworthy.

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the central government’s commitment to housing for all, is part of the celebrations marking 75 years of India’s independence. The state government has granted MHADA planning authority to expedite and streamline the process of obtaining various construction permits under one roof, saving time. MHADA has planned 12,76,902 homes under multiple components. So far, 4,27,357 housing units have been approved under 1,589 projects across the state. Additionally, 6,25,050 beneficiaries have availed themselves of the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme under PMAY.

MHADA is actively working on redeveloping approximately 13,000 dilapidated cess buildings in south Mumbai. The redevelopment of these buildings is being done under 33(7). Recent amendments in the Act, namely 79A and 91A, have provided the enabling provisions for redeveloping non-starter and stalled projects. Cluster Development would be the best solution in south Mumbai as this approach would revitalize the landscape besides addressing the challenges of urban growth, inadequate infrastructure, and ageing buildings by providing enhanced infrastructure in terms of wider roads and improved basic civic amenities, including water supply, drainage system and electrical works.

Also Read | Maharashtra’s Vision for Affordable Housing and Urban Development

The government’s significant step in this direction is redeveloping buildings in Kamathipura. The “Urban Village Kamathipura Township” redevelopment project is being implemented by MHADA’s Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board. This project involves redeveloping ageing and deteriorating cess and noncess buildings and plots in Kamathipura, South Mumbai, under Regulation 33(9) of the Development Control and Promotion Regulations 2034. The project aims to enhance urban planning, infrastructure, and land use integration by focusing on cluster development.

Another major redevelopment project in the pipeline includes buildings under the 66 PMGP (Prime Minister Grant Project), which was constructed in the 1980s, and 388 RT buildings. Policy changes in 33(7) and 33(24) shall help redevelop these buildings.

MHADA has significantly contributed to Mumbai’s evolving skyline and providing affordable housing. Our mission is to focus on redevelopment and ensure that more housing stock is made available in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra, especially in the EWS and LIG categories, which are affordable. While doing so, MHADA also intends to bring down the affordability index of housing in the state.

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