Mhada allots realtor extra 1.7L sq ft area Space Belongs To Adjacent LIG Colony

The Maharashtra housing and area development authority (Mhada) has sanctioned D B Realty an additional built-up area of 1.70 lakh sq ft worth around Rs 500 crore to redevelop the Middle Income Group-1 (MIG) colony in Bandra (East). This additional area belongs to the Lower Income Group (LIG) colony, which is part of the same sprawling layout the authority built five decades ago.      Mhada denied it had transferred the development rights of LIG to MIG and described it as pro rata or proportionate allocation of floor space index (FSI) among all the residents living on the layout. FSI is the ratio allowed of floor space in a building to the plot size.      Mhada CEO Satish Gavai said the additional built up-area sanctioned to D B Realty is not the first case; it has been done in other Mhada redevelopment projects, including the ongoing Samata Nagar project in Kandivli. The authority said it will earn Rs 105 crore as premium for allowing D B Realty this additional area.      But sources said Mhada's decision flies in the face of its own affidavit filed in the Bombay high court in 2006 in response to a public interest litigation by Awaz Foundation. The affidavit categorically said that "there will be no allotment of the unutilized FSI of LIG societies to MIG or high-income (HIG) societies and vice versa."      In the Bandra (East) MIG-1 project, D B Realty said it was unable to consume the entire FSI it was entitled to. Mhada has increased the FSI to 3.5, but the developer said it will be able to utilise only up to 2.66 FSI on the 20,150 sq m plot.     It further contended that the FSI of the LIG society, with its 1,098 tenements, will be as high as 6.06—a built-up area of 1.49 lakh sq m on a plot of 24,580 sq m. The builder said that since the maximum FSI cap is 3.5, there is FSI left that cannot be utilized by LIG societies and so the same should be granted to the MIG portion of the layout, which is larger with low density in terms of numbers of tenements.      "It is therefore in the interest of Mhada that wherever the societies can consumeFSI on gross leased area up to 3.5, the same may be permitted. Mhada will stand to gain premium which otherwise would have remained unutilized in the layout. This will result in revenue of hundreds of crores to the authority," said the developer in its proposal letter to Mhada.      D B Realty has the mandate to redevelop the 19 buildings in MIG-1 located in Gandhi Nagar in Bandra (East). However, the project has stayed stalled since over six years due to a host of problems and the developer has been unable to start work. Recently, it proposed to mortgage the colony land to raise funds for the redevelopment. However, residents rejected the proposal a few months ago.  BANDRA PROJECT      Mhada allots 1.70 lakh sq ft of additional built-up area belonging to LIG colony to MIG-1 in the same layout in Bandra (East). This additional area is worth at least Rs 500 crore. Mhada said it will receive Rs 105 crore as premium from builder D B Realty      In response to a 2006 PIL, Mhada's affidavit had said there will be no allotment of unutilised FSI of LIG societies to MIG and vice versa      The developer said the LIG portion of the Bandra layout has over 6 FSI while the cap is 3.5. Hence, the additional portion be allowed to be used in the MIG part D B Realty has the mandate to redevelop the 19 buildings in Gandhi Nagar's MIG-1. The project is stuck for six years