Curation Team
MUMBAI: State govt on Monday appointed a new authority to be headed by BJP MLC Pravin Darekar to expedite self-redevelopment projects.
As chairman of the new Self-Group Redevelopment Authority (SGRA), Darekar will have the status of a Minister of State. The BJP MLC is known to be close to CM Devendra Fadnavis, and also heads the Mumbai District Cooperative Bank.
While SGRA will help expedite redevelopment of old buildings, the state housing authority, Mhada, will act as the coordinating body (nodal agency) for such projects.
In self-redevelopment, housing societies do not appoint a builder but redevelop their buildings themselves by appointing a project management consultant, architect and contractor. All the benefits accruing from a self-redevelopment project are enjoyed by individual members and the society instead of the builder.
Activist Chandrashekhar Prabhu, who initiated this mode of redevelopment a decade ago, said, “I hope the provisions in the Govt Resolution (GR) of September 13, 2019, and subsequent GRs for self-redevelopment are implemented and all approvals will be given within the stipulated time under one window system.”
Through this authority, govt aims to accelerate redevelopment projects and encourage residents to opt for self-redevelopment.
Redevelopment of buildings is a big issue in the city, where such projects get stuck due to disputes between residents, builders and planning authorities.
Last year, govt had formed a committee under Darekar to suggest measures to resolve difficulties in self-redevelopment.
Under the 2019 GR, govt granted concessions to registered cooperative housing societies to encourage them to undertake self-redevelopment. Mumbai District Cooperative Bank agreed to finance such self-redevelopment projects.
In July, the committee submitted its report to govt, and based on their recommendations, the CM approved the creation of the SGRA and appointed Darekar as its chairman, through a new GR issued on Monday.
Housing society expert Ramesh Prabhu, said, “Till now more than 10,000 housing societies have undertaken redevelopment through builders since 2000, but only 25-30 of them undertook self-redevelopment. The reasons for such small numbers was because there was not much support or legal framework for self-redevelopment.”
