IndustryLatest Stories

Mumbai’s SRA Freezes Builders’ Sale Flats to Ensure Rent

MUMBAI: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has mandated developers to deposit an advance rent covering two years for slum residents in their projects. Additionally, the SRA has started ‘freezing’ sale flats equivalent to three years of rent until builders provide new homes to qualified slum dwellers. This proactive measure aims to ensure that rent payments are secured and permanent housing is provided to eligible slum residents, according to SRA officials. This is the first instance of the SRA freezing portions of flats or commercial units from projects to prevent developers from neglecting their rental obligations to slum dwellers. SRA previously…

InfrastructureLatest Stories

GVMC Launches Citywide Slum Survey in Visakhapatnam

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has initiated an extensive survey of 66 slums throughout the city to evaluate housing, infrastructure, and amenities. According to the survey results, slums that have reached a certain developmental threshold will be denotified, while others will be redeveloped through a public-private partnership (PPP) model. This initiative is part of a larger plan under NITI Aayog’s Vizag Growth Hub aimed at enhancing the Visakhapatnam Economic Region. Two slums—Velampeta and Indira Nagar—have already been earmarked for redevelopment under the PPP model, with tenders currently issued. The GVMC also intends to amend the Municipal Corporation Act…

IndustryLatest Stories

19 Major Mumbai Slums to be Redeveloped Under New Scheme

MUMBAI: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) is set to initiate 18 projects in Mumbai, including a 100-acre site in Andheri West near Gilbert Hill, under the state government’s newly launched slum cluster redevelopment scheme. Projects will target clusters of at least 50 acres where over 51% of the area is occupied by slums, including those in coastal regulation zones I and II. Under the scheme, redevelopment can include slums alongside non-slum areas, old and dilapidated buildings, tenant-occupied sites, vacant land unsuitable for construction, and selected private properties. The Andheri site currently contains approximately 14,000 huts and several residential buildings. SRA…

Latest StoriesResidential

Maharashtra CM: Cluster Redevelopment to Aid 700K Slum Dwellers

Representative AI image MUMBAI: Approximately seven lakh slum dwellers will benefit from the slum cluster redevelopment scheme, as informed to CM Devendra Fadnavis during the 16th meeting of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) on Friday at the Sahyadri state guesthouse. SRA chief Mahendra Kalyankar stated, “Due to the limited response to joint venture projects and stalled schemes, the government has decided to promote integrated and sustainable development under the Slum Cluster Redevelopment scheme, in alignment with the state housing policy for 2025.” He added that the process to identify slum cluster areas is underway. During the meeting, an additional Rs…

Latest StoriesResidential

Maharashtra Minister to Discuss First-Floor Slum Rehab with CM, DCMs

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Minister Shambhuraj Desai announced on Thursday that there will be discussions with the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Ministers regarding the demand to include first-floor slum dwellers for rehabilitation under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes in Mumbai. State Assembly members raised concerns about long-term residents residing on the first floors of slum structures, stating that excluding them would hinder the efforts to achieve a slum-free Mumbai. Under current regulations, only ground-floor structures are recognized and numbered for SRA project eligibility, Desai explained during the question hour. “If we are to consider changes, such as recognizing ‘one plus…

IndustryLatest Stories

Hutment Sale Scam Resurfaces for HDIL

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has uncovered an alleged housing scam involving Rs 150 crore. Home possession documents intended for approximately 1,000 residents of slum rehabilitation were reportedly sold to third-party buyers. The company at the heart of this alleged scheme is Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) Group. The EOW investigation suggests that top executives of HDIL might be involved, although the firm’s lawyers have refuted this claim to Mirror. The EOW filed its chargesheet on Thursday, naming HDIL promoters the Wadhwans and their associates while also awaiting the Slum Rehabilitation Authority’s (SRA) feedback…

Latest StoriesRegulatory

Directors of Shah Housecon Charged with ₹5 Crore Cheating

MUMBAI: Two directors of a real estate company have been charged with cheating a developer of approximately ₹5 crore under the guise of investment in a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project in Malad, as reported by a police official on Friday. A representative from the Kasturba Marg police station stated that a case has been filed against Mansukh Shah and Akash Mansukh Shah, directors of Shah Housecon Private Limited. The case has since been handed over to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for further investigation. Real estate developer Nilesh Narendra Raghani lodged a complaint claiming he was introduced to the…

Latest StoriesRegulatory

Slum Authority Faces Claims of Irregularities in Dharavi Project

MUMBAI: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has initiated an investigation led by the deputy collector (Encroachments) following allegations that demolished huts are being rebuilt and that new occupants are being declared eligible for free housing under the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). Activist Baburao Mane, a founder-member of Manohar Joshi College, informed the SRA that occupants have moved back into partially demolished huts, some of which don’t appear on survey maps. He pointed out instances where structures, including a temple labeled as a hut and a staircase recently fitted with a door, are being falsely classified as eligible for free housing.…

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Andhra’s First Slum Rehabilitation Authority in Visakhapatnam

Representative AI image VISAKHAPATNAM: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has announced plans to amend the Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation Act of 1979, marking a significant step towards establishing a Slum Rehabilitation Authority in Andhra Pradesh. This initiative aligns with the broader goal of urban redevelopment under the newly introduced Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER) program. GVMC has initiated pilot projects for slum redevelopment in Velampeta and Indira Gandhi Nagar, submitting proposals to the state government. Both localities are set to be transformed into high-rise residential complexes. Currently, residents face challenges related to inadequate housing, cramped living conditions, poor sanitation, and a…

Latest StoriesResidential

Mumbai: Meghwadi Chawl Residents Claim Coercion in Redevelopment

MUMBAI: Residents of the historic Meghwadi chawl in Dharavi are not just opposing a redevelopment plan but are also facing a systematic campaign of intimidation and harassment aimed at displacing families who have lived there for generations. The issue escalated after an urgent seven-day eviction notice was issued by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) last December, with claims of local thugs, possibly politically motivated, pressuring residents to leave their homes. The nearly 150-year-old Meghwadi chawl, formerly known as Central Railway Patra chawl, contains around 80 hutments housing approximately 350 residents, including many seniors and children. Many of them have ancestral…