Mhada To Miss 2020 Target To Deliver 15,000 Low-Cost Flats In Mumbai

The Mumbai Board of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) is lagging way behind the target of delivering 15,000 affordable homes in the city by 2020. Looks like Mumbaikars will have to wait longer for low-cost homes in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world.

According to Mhada’s newly appointed President Uday Samant, the authority has been able to construct 2,500 homes of the 15,000 flats so far. However, at the time when deadlines were set in 2015, the Mhada was to construct 10,576 homes by 2018, a number it is expected to now achieve by 2020.

"Let anyone from Mhada say anything about achieving the target but the truth is we will never achieve the target of constructing 15,229 affordable homes till 2020. However we can take steps to achieve at least half of our target," Samant was reported as saying in a DNA report.

The delay, according to Samant, is caused due to largescale encroachments on land parcels where the flats are to be constructed on and legal issues related to that land. However, he is positive that these issues will soon be resolved since the Mhada has been designated as the planning authority. This means it doesn’t have to go to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for removal of encroachments. 

Also, Samant pointed out that the rising property prices in the city were of grave concern. While the cost of construction keeps on going up, these affordable homes cannot be sold at high prices. He puts an emphasis on the need for change in policy and adoption of new technology that would help bring down the cost of construction of low-cost homes.