The government of Maharashtra have made an announcement of a reconstruction and redevelopment policy for authorised tenanted housing development in Mumbai city and its suburbs. This move has been influenced by the recent incident where a building collapsed killing 50 people.
The new policy is expected to benefit the tenanted buildings in both suburbs and non-cessed tenanted buildings in the city.
According to a report by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in Mumbai there are more than 600 dilapidated buildings, which are declared as dangerous structures. The residents of those tenanted buildings, for years have been residing in these dilapidated buildings because landlords do not renovate due to shortage of incentives.
The new policy will be expected to eradicate this concern. Listed below are some of the key features of the policy.
Only tenants who have occupied the place before June 13, 1996 are liable for the benefits of this policy.
Only the consent of 70% of the tenants is needed to start redevelopment work of old buildings.
Every tenant is promised of a carpet area occupied by them in the old building with a minimum area of 300 sq ft to maximum area of 753 sq ft.
Builders will be getting a 50 percent incentive floor space index (FSI) for redeveloping the building.
The landlords are directed to start the construction of the building within one year at once from the date of the demolition and finish it within a period of five years.
Landlords will be required to provide alternate housing to the tenants during the time of extensive redevelopment.
A corpus fund will have to be created by the landlord that will fund the maintenance of the building for a period of minimum 10 years.
The new policy has brought big relief to the residents dwelling in the old tenanted buildings. Yet, there lies some concerns that require major attention.
According to Project Management experts, the policy is bound to be beneficial to thousands of people living in the tenanted buildings. What makes them anxious is implementation of the policy. In addition, there is vagueness about the ownership of the flat. Whether the landlords will transfer the ownership rights to the tenants after redevelopment is a question.
The builders have also wholeheartedly welcomed the introduction of this new policy. By the words of a builder well known in the circuit, the move by the government is highly appreciable. However, such policies will not solve the problem of old risky buildings in the city. Any old building, which is more than 30 years old, should be reconstructed immediately and there is an extreme demand for a cluster redevelopment policy in the suburbs of the city too.
Now the state government or the Municipal Corporation is being expected to issue certain guidelines for a proper implementation of the introduced policy.
