After the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) allowed the redevelopment of old dilapidated structures with 51% consent of residents instead of the earlier 100% consent, a number of housing societies are showing interest in the redevelopment of their old and dilapidated buildings.
At least 32 housing societies in the Seawoods area alone are interested in redevelopment. In a recently held Redevelopment Council in sector 48 in Nerul, around 1000 residents assembled to understand the nitty and gritty of the redevelopment. Bharat Jadhav, a former corporator from Seawoods who arranged the conference said that around 5000 families are ready for redevelopment. But many of them do not know how to go for it,” said Jadhav. Sunil Chaudhary, an expert on the redevelopment subject, guided around 500 families to attend the council meeting.
CIDCO amended its reconstruction policy in 2013
“Many of the CIDCO-constructed buildings are on the verge of collapse and they can go for redevelopment immediately. At least one or two cases of slab or plaster falling incidents are reported from the Seawoods area,” said Jadhav. While CIDCO carries out the repair work, the permanent solution is redevelopment, added Jadhav.
With the relaxation of the residents’ consent clause, talk for the reconstruction of buildings constructed on CIDCO plots in Navi Mumbai and which are 30 years old and dilapidated has increased.
In January, CIDCO amended its 2013 policy of reconstruction of old buildings to match the guidelines of the state government. Now, the dilapidated building can be reconstructed with the consent of only 51% of the members of the housing society instead of the earlier 100%.
More than 30 years old buildings can go for redevelopment
According to developers who are showing interest in redevelopment projects, more than 4 lakh people are living in over 3000 dilapidated buildings across Navi Mumbai. Most of these buildings are more than 30 years old and can go for redevelopment. The redevelopment issue was pending for many years. In 2015, the state government allowed the redevelopment of CIDCO-constructed buildings with 2.5 FSI. However, due to several reasons including politics, the redevelopment of such buildings could not happen.
In December 2020, NMMC cleared the proposal for the redevelopment of four housing societies in the Vashi and Nerul nodes. They were the Little Flower Society in Sector 9, Utkarsh Society in Sector 9, the Nivasti Tvisa Society in Sector 2, and Panchsheel Apartment in Sector 1A in Nerul. All these four housing societies consist of a total of 31 buildings.
Lease agreements include terms for commencment, construction and completion
In Navi Mumbai, CIDCO has allotted plots on a lease, subject to the provisions of the Navi Mumbai Disposal of Land (Amendment) Regulations, 2008 (earlier, New Bombay Disposal of Land Regulations, 1975). The lease agreement includes the terms and conditions like obtaining development permission, commencement and completion of construction, the extension of the construction period, use of plot, and service charges among others.
As per the lease agreement, the plot is leased to the Housing Society for a period of 60 years only and CIDCO has ownership rights over the plot and the construction done on it. The housing society needs to obtain prior written permission from CIDCO for demolishing the existing structure and constructing a new building in its place.
