Remaking Mumbai the redevelopment way

Redevelopment is the way of demolishing existing old Structure and reconstructing it for the benefits of residents by appointing a good developer who can construct and handover new premises to the society residents at free of cost with some additional benefits

Redevelopment is an option over repairs.

As we observe at the point in time, the societies are opting to go for redevelopment than repair for the various reasons. As in redevelopment, the residents get new fresh building, additional area, monitory benefits without spending any money from their own pockets. New building is constructed with new construction norms and hence can better adapt with the changing climatic and geographic conditions and that is the reason Redevelopment in Mumbai should be pushed.

We come across through news that there are hundreds of old structures or buildings in the city which are beyond repair; however, developers are now pursuing redevelopment projects to leverage the incentives offered by state. Such incentives enhance their power. It becomes a possible proposition for builders as they do not have to incur a major portion of their costs which goes in purchasing the land. Hence, it becomes a win-win situation for developers as well as the buyers and residents.

With the availability of land in Mumbai drying up, real estate experts believe redevelopment is the only way forward for the large city and urban area. Redevelopment can be an economic engine which results in increasing property value, creates jobs and eliminates urban decay and improves infrastructure.

However, it has been often noticed that during the process of redevelopment, the terms of Development Agreements as agreed upon, are later perverted and grossly violated by the Developers. The ground rules of Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP) and Development Control Regulations (DCR), by unlawful planning of such developers, are ignored by constructing additional/unauthorized areas that are beyond the entitlement (i.e. beyond the plot FSI and the TDR/FSI loaded) for their hidden financial gains. The buyers of such unlawful flats/properties involve themselves in deals that usually lead to litigation at a later date.

At times, upon the completion of the Project, there are major inconsistencies and biased features noticed in the approved plans v/s actual layouts, measurements and other aspects in respect of the constructions of residential area and the commercial area which may not be in conformity with the Development Agreement originally executed between the Society and the Developer.

It has also been observed that the deviation of vital Rules and Guidelines of MRTP/MCGM/DCR are conveniently overlooked by few corrupt and dishonest officials so, the main challenge is to verify all the documents and get timely regulatory approvals and clearances. The government needs to bring some clarity in the policies and norms. If this is done, developers can flood the market with housing stock.

In addition, our newly elected Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri. Devendra Fadnavis unveiled slum redevelopment plans for Mumbai.  Our CM expressed his concern for the all around development of Mumbai, by stating that it is very important to develop the slums which house 46 percent of the city's population. There are as many as 117 BMC and 96 MHADA slum rehabilitation projects which have been delayed. He assured that the Maharashtra government shall review all projects pending since the past three years and order them to be restarted.

Therefore, Government should act as a facilitator in a way such that redevelopment can happen. It should be proposed in a way that the application for redevelopment is made bankable. Presently one may observe that no bank or financial institution is showing much interest in the redevelopment process, take the state government's slum rehabilitation projects (SRA) or any other redevelopment projects as example. This is mainly because there is an element of uncertainty. If there is a transparency in these projects, financial institutions would bet on these projects.

We look forward to the Maharashtra government taking up the issue with the Central Government and initiating their development to boost the stock of affordable housing in the city with private participation.