In a big relief for project affected people (PAP) who are displaced during road widening and other developmental work on plots tagged with reservations, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has finally received possession of 230 flats from builders under the affordable housing scheme.
The developers in the Mahajanwadi area of Kashimira were dilly-dallying in handing over the flats to the MBMC, despite repeated appeals. However, a demand by Shiv Sena legislator- Pratap Sarnaik to the civic administration to stop issuing the much-needed occupancy certificates (OC) to such developers for saleable flats acted as a catalyst, prompting the handover.
Sarnaik had earlier sought ownership rights instead of rental housing for the MBMC from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) which grants extra floor space index (FSI) to private developers in exchange for free houses to the local civic body for rehabilitation purposes. The MMRDA while expressing its inability to take a decision of bestowing ownership rights of tenements to the MBMC had sought directions from the state government on the issue. However, a decision from the state government is still awaited. By receiving the flats, The MBMC can now give permanent accommodation to the project-affected people in the region.