Rent for tenants of dangerous cessed bldgs to be hiked to ₹30,000/ month: Minister
'During redevelopment, tenants will have to stay elsewhere and the amount of rent fixed at ₹20,000 per month is very less. Hence, the government will consider increasing the rent to ₹30,000 per month,' Bhoyar said.
No objection certificates (NoC) issued to developers for redevelopment of cessed buildings under Development Control Regulation (DCR) 33 (7) will be also cancelled in cases where work has not commenced despite the passage of three years, the minister said.
Bhoyar was responding to complaints of delay in the redevelopment of cessed buildings, raised by several legislators from the city cutting across party lines.
Cessed buildings refer to buildings constructed between 1940 and 1969 that are maintained by the Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB) of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada). There are around 13,000 cessed buildings in the island city whose tenants pay a tax or cess to the housing authority towards maintenance and repairs. The MBRRB had declared 96 cessed buildings as dangerous following a pre-monsoon survey this year.
DCR 33 (7) governs the redevelopment of cessed buildings.
In December 2022, the state government introduced clause 79 (A) in the Mhada Act, 1976, allowing the housing authority to undertake redevelopment of dilapidated cessed buildings in cases where owners or tenants failed to appoint a developer. Though the objective of the amendment was to ensure speedy redevelopment of cessed buildings, not a single redevelopment proposal has been approved by the state government since then, legislators from the city said in the assembly on Thursday.
Congress MLA Amin Patel pointed out that 14 proposals were still pending with the state government.
'Section 79(A) is applicable to buildings classified as C1 structures, which are extremely dangerous and unfit for habitation. But the clause should apply to C2 structures, which require only partial demolition and major structural repairs,' he said.
Bhoyar accepted that 14 proposals were pending with the government and attributed the delay to litigation.
'In some cases, land owners conducted third party audits and approached the courts, saying redevelopment was not required, which led to delays. The government will approve the proposals at the earliest,' the minister said.
The government will also consider extending section 79 (A) of the Mhada Act to C2 structures, he said.
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