AFFECTED TENANTS VOICE CONCERN
Redevpt projects are breeding ground for corruption
Mumbai: Hundreds of citizens on Thursday voiced their concern over builders flouting laws while redeveloping residential buildings and the authorities looking the other way.
At a packed meeting at Bandras Mount Carmel Church, affected tenants shared their experience of people being thrown out of their homes in the name of the development. Taking a dig at chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, activists said that if politicians had their way, they would sell off Mumbai.
Spelling out the dangerous nexus between the builder lobby, politicians and police, citizens expressed the need to unify and work toward a common goal of helping each other in distress.
Politicians are hand-in-glove with builders and the underworld. Lawabiding citizens are left in the lurch when a project falls through. Unfortunately, when huge sums of money is offered, the common man falls prey to it without realising what the hidden damages are going to be, said Chandrashekhar Prabhu, housing activist and former Mhada chairperson.
Several incidents at Bandras Pereira Wadi showed the high-handedness of authorities while dealing with sensitive issues like systematically vacating the tenants and ensuring that consent from all is taken by the builder, a speaker said.
In most cases, redevelopment schemes are a breeding ground of corruption and these projects, at some time or the other, go kaput, he added.
The 70/30 rule of Mhada has also been repeatedly misused, said Manohar Samant, president of the Federation of Tenants Association. The rule is one of the five preconditions a builder must fulfil before commencing reconstruction of the old structure. He must have consent of at least 70% of the tenants to go ahead with the scheme.
Prabhu advocated freely on self-redevelopmentwhich gives residents more right over the land, where tenants redevelop the entire property themselves, without the aid of a builder and with the assistance of the state housing authority, Mhada. The builders do not have the capacity to construct buildings themselves. They appoint contractors. So instead of them, residents themselves can get together and appoint contractors so that the builders interference is discounted, he said.
Experts have a word of advice. Do not sign any paper unless youre sure of it. You may be talked into signing papers for a different reason, but your signatures can be easily misused. Also, consent letters can be revoked if you realise there is a problem with the scheme, said Samant.
To address grievances, this eminent panel will meet at Mount Carmel church every Thursday afternoon. We cannot afford to be neutral, we have to stick our necks out now, said Dolphy DSouza of the Bombay Catholic Sabha.