500 cr Versova redevpt project under HC lens

Mumbai: A mega redevelopment project in Versova worth over Rs 500 crore has come under the scanner of the Bombay high court. 

    Hearing a review petition filed by three residents of the area, a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice R P Sondurbaldota asked Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) to clarify the built-up area it is entitled to in the project. 
    Aaramnagar in Versova is a society comprising 357 structures with 500 sq ft tenements. The land comprised of army barracks, but was subsequently allotted to the tenants. In 2008, the government permitted redevelopment of the land. Of the 40 acres, redevelopment is permissible on around 16 acres. 
    The project proposes to rehouse the existing tenants in around 257 flats in towers and 100 row houses, each spread over 1,230 sq ft. The developer, East West builders, and Mhada, which owns the land, will be entitled to built-up area on completion of the project. The builder has paid Rs 24 crore towards corpus fund for the society. 
    The first round of litigation was launched by filmmaker Guddu Dhanoa, leading Bollywood cameraman Rakesh Shreshtha, photographer Subi Samuel and three other residents of the area. It was dismissed by the high court in 2010. The petitioners have sought a review of the high court order giving go ahead to the project. 
    Senior advocate Janak Dwarakadas, counsel for the petitioners, claims the project does not have the consent of 70% of the residents. "The agreement between Mhada, the builder and the Aramnagar Tenants' Welfare Association says the area remaining after housing the tenants will be equally divided between Mhada and the builder. The development control regulations clearly say that land should be divided in the ratio of 2:1 in favour of Mhada," said Dwarakadas. He pointed out that while Mhada was entitled to 2 lakh sq ft of land as per the agreement, the government had asked the agency to revise the agreement as it was eligible for an additional 4 lakh sq ft. 
    Advocate G W Mattos, counsel for Mhada, said around 75% tenants have given their consent. He said the area attracted coastal regulation zone norms and a proposal for 2.5 FSI for the project is pending before the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority(MCZMA). 
    The court issued a notice to the MCZMA. The next hearing is scheduled for July 9.

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FSI for slum projects hiked from 2.5 to 4

Govt Nod A Must For High-Density Rehab Plans Mumbai: The state government has formally increased the floor space index (FSI) for slum rehabilitation projects from 2.5 to a maximum of 4.      The state urban development department issued a notification on Friday after it got an approval from CM Prithviraj Chavan, who also heads the department. As per the notification, projects involving all high-density slums—those having over 650 tenements per hectare—are entitled to an FSI of 4, whereas those with lower tenement density are entitled to 3. Senior officials from the urban development department said that the notification highlights that all procedural formalities concerning the higher FSI move are now complete.      After the move to increase size of each rehabilitation tenement for slum dwellers from 225 sq ft to 269 sq ft in 2009, slum redevelopment projects were allowed higher FSI.      A notification under section 154 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (MRTP), 1966, was issued at that time to allow it to implement the provision pending completion of procedural formalities, including invitation of suggestions and objections from citizens. These procedural formalities have now been completed and a formal notification issued, a senior state official said.      FSI is a development tool that determines the extent of construction permitted on a plot. It is a ratio of permissible built-up to the total area of the plot. A higher FSI would allow developers additional construction on slum land. As per the notification, approvals for redevelopment projects with higher tenement density will be cleared by the state government. The Slum Rehabilitation Authority retains powers to approve schemes with lower tenement density.

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