Mhada HIG flats to hit the market

The Supreme Court recently cleared a mega housing project of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) which was stuck in a legal wrangle for the past three years at Lokhandwala complex in Versova.

The authority would have to hand 25 acres to Apna Ghar Co-operative Housing Society (CHS) who had claimed ownership of the land as per apex court decision. The issue goes back to 1991, when the Oshiwara Land Development Corporation (OLDC) moved Bombay High Court staking claim on the 100 acres land acquired by Mhada at Lokhandwala complex.

Seeking media support to end the boundary dispute, the state cabinet in 1998 when Narayan Rane was revenue minister-overriding Mhada’s objection, decided to share 50% of the disputed land with Apna Ghar CHS, a part of the OLDC. Consent terms were filed and approved in the Court.

The decision could not be implemented for two reasons. For one, two public interest litigations challenging the cabinet decision saw the Court asking the state to look into the issue. “Secondly, when the layout was first prepared, Mhada got 50% portion of land which lay in the no development zone (NDZ). It was only after much protests by consecutive Mhada vice presidents that the layout was again realigned,’’ said a Mhada official.

A revised understanding was then reached with Vikas Walavalkar, the developer of Apna Ghar CHS. Accordingly, in addition to retaining the 50 acres of NDZ land, Mhada will share 50% of the further subdivided 50 acres of land with the developer. The decision was ratified by the state cabinet in 2004, and subsequently approved by the Court in revised
consent terms.

Source: dnaindia.com