Urban News

At a ceremony organised in the Mahul village housing project area in Chembur, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan handed over the flats to the civic body. About 10 families eligible for rehabilitation were given away the occupation letter in the function as a symbolic gesture.

However, even as the flats are ready, families will not be able to move in immediately as reported by Newsline earlier. Most of the flats will remain unoccupied for some more time, since the BMC has not finalised a list of slum-dwellers affected by the Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drainage project (BRIMSTOWAD).

Chief engineer (Storm Water Drains) C K Vhatve said apart from the list not being ready, the flats still did not have proper water supply system in place. “We are trying to speed up the scrutiny process which involves clearance from the collector’s office. We will focus on rehabilitating those living along crucial flooding spots so that work on these can be carried out soon,” said Vhatve.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chavan said the area would soon be developed and made more accessible. “It is a big township project that will accommodate thousands of people. That is why we should have a market, a school and a playground within Mahul area,” said Chavan.

Minister of State for housing Sachin Ahir and MLA Arif Naseem Khan were also present. Khan urged the state government to regularise hutments that have come up till 2000. However, Chavan maintained that since the matter in the court, those settled before 1995 will be eligible for housing for now.

According to a BMC survey, the 1200-crore project of the BMC will displace about 15, 000 hutment and slum dwellers who have encroached upon the existing drains that need to desilted, deepened, widened and fortified with a retention wall.

While families in 1,500 such hutments have already been rehabilitated, as many as 4,500 can be immediately rehabilitated and the work on the drains can begin. The tenements are built by DB Realty under SRA’s Mahul Rehabilitation Project in Chembur and the firm will get TDR from the BMC in return. The entire project involves the construction of nearly 19,000 tenements.