Which one to choose - A Private Builder or The State Development Authority??

Hello everyone,

This is Aditya. This articles deals with the issue that "The restrictions implemented by Supreme Court on the builders and the inefficiency of MHADA have done the damage in the redevelopment process." Have a look at this.

Cessed and dangerous, bldgs crumble as they await redevelopment

There have been around 5,000 incidents in the last five years in which buildings or parts of buildings have crumbled in Mumbai. But only 1,000 buildings have been taken up for redevelopment till date, highlighting the authorities’ apathy and residents’ and owners’ unwillingness in pushing for redevelopment.
Portions of two buildings have crashed in less than 16 hours since Friday evening, killing five and injuring a few others. The two mishaps have served to put the spotlight back on the reasons why those living precariously in the buildings choose to go on doing so despite the obvious risk to life.
Few among the occupants and the landlords of these buildings have been interested in their redevelopment but things have worsened since April 2006. The Supreme Court effectively put a cap on the profit that builders could make out of redeveloping property by decreeing they could not be given a floorspace index of more than 4 as incentive.
“Builders before that were allowed to sell 50 per cent of the redeveloped property. This limit on their profits has come as a huge disincentive,’’ Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority cessed buildings resident executive engineer V G Wani said.
Not a single building in the city has been put up for redevelopment since the SC verdict.
The reasons for occupants’ and landlords’ unwillingness to redevelop property according to MHADA rules are far simpler to understand. “Redevelopment often takes years when residents have to move elsewhere, to transit camps in the suburbs, dozens of kilometres from their workplace, school or college. This disturbs a whole way of life,’’ Mumbadevi BJP MLA Raj Purohit said.
Occupants also pay a pittance as rent (compared to the prevailing market rates) to stay in the best areas of Mumbai; so they often tend to ignore the very real risk to their own life and limb.
The reason for landlords’ apathy is even more obvious; they stand to gain the least from redeveloped properties, say Mhada officials.
A few instances will put things in clearer perspective. It is almost two years since Nagpada’s Sadaf Manzil crashed, killing 11 persons and injuring 29; 17 of the injured have been disabled permanently. Residents initially thought of redeveloping their building through the Mhada but then realised that it would be a futile wait and even the second generation might not see the redevelopment. So they decided to approach a private builder.
Residents of adjoining Patel Mansion, which was in a similarly dilapidated condition, agreed to a cluster redevelopment. “We appointed Abid Rizvi and Associates to carry out the redevelopment. We got a no-objection certificate from the Mhada and permission from the BMC to carry out construction. But now the builder is hesitant because of the FSI cap of 4,’’ Sheikh Latif Gaffar, a resident, said.
The hesitation stems from the fact that the builder may not be able to recover the cost of construction.
“There are 31 residents and seven commercial shops. The builder says that with an FSI of 4 he can construct upto 11 floors. So, after rehabilitating the tenants, he will be left with around six flats and these will not fetch him what he wants,’’ Gaffar said. The residents are at present living in transit camps at Wadala, Bandra and Malad.
Congress corporator from Nagpada Amin Patel points out there are 530 cessed buildings in his ward extending from Tank Street to Shuklaji Street. One hundred and eighty have been demolished but have not been taken up for redevelopment.

CESSED BUILDINGS
Old buildings in the island city are called cessed buildings because tenants pay monthly charges (known as cess) to the Repair Board for carrying out repairs; this cess is higher than the rent.
There are 16,372 cessed buildings in the city.
Vacation notices were served on residents of 71 buildings this year.



Articly Courtesy : Times of India, 19th August 2007, Mumbai edition, Page 3