MUMBAI: The plight of 127 families from Vartak Nagar, Thane, awaiting housing after redevelopment, received a ray of hope as MHADA has officially recognized that they have yet to be rehabilitated.
This recognition came in MHADA’s conditional consent to the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) regarding the issuance of final occupation certificates for Buildings 54, 55, and 56. MHADA indicated that any occupation certificate issued by TMC would depend on the outcome of a petition filed by the distressed residents in the Bombay High Court.
In April 2025, the High Court noted that permanent alternate accommodation had not yet been provided to the affected residents, and it has not issued a final ruling on the case.
Alongside rehabilitation, another significant issue before the court is the reduction of the carpet area of the new homes from 581 sqft to 300 sqft, as decreed by TMC and MHADA.
“We now trust that TMC will adhere to MHADA’s conditional consent,” stated Sudhir Parab, a long-term resident of Building 54.
Rajan Bandelkar from Unnati Estates, the firm behind the redevelopment, remarked: “We will, of course, comply with the court’s decision.”
An official from TMC’s town planning department acknowledged that he had not yet received the documentation but would review it upon arrival.
Long-standing Dispute
The conflict dates back to the redevelopment of Buildings 54, 55, and 56 in Vartak Nagar, originally constructed in the 1970s by the Bombay Housing Board, MHADA’s predecessor, to house project-affected persons (PAPs) and municipal employees. Out of 240 tenements in the three buildings, 140 were intended for PAPs, while 100 were designated for civic employees. MHADA records continued to recognize PAP occupancy until 2006.
To facilitate redevelopment, TMC secured a lease from MHADA in 2007 and acquired the buildings from the housing authority. Yet, the sale deed acknowledged PAP occupancy, while the lease deed only referenced civic employees, leading residents to argue that this discrepancy underpinned future redevelopment approvals.
How Families Were Excluded
MHADA’s no-objection certificates for redevelopment categorized the buildings as housing solely for municipal staff, declaring that the redeveloped homes would serve only civic employees. Building 56 was demolished during 2006-07, followed by Buildings 54 and 55 in 2015-16. Although the sale deed remained the key document indicating that PAP families resided there, redevelopment approvals were derived from the lease deed, which omitted PAP representation.
Subsequently, TMC informed the High Court that the redeveloped buildings were exclusively for civic staff, leading the court to acknowledge that the affected families had not yet been rehabilitated.
Homes with Conditions
The impacted families have also contested the revised carpet area of the redeveloped homes, reduced from 581 sqft to 300 sqft. Additionally, they object to the stipulations attached to the allocation of new homes, which restrict beneficiaries from selling, leasing, or renting out the properties. Out of the 140 affected families, 13 have accepted accommodations offered by TMC despite these limitations, while 127 families continue to pursue what they regard as fair rehabilitation.
The High Court is anticipated to rule on the families’ entitlement to permanent alternate accommodation, as well as the legal viability of the revised rehabilitation conditions set forth by TMC and MHADA.
