Mumbai: With increasing demand for affordable houses in Maharashtra, there is a need to review some of the “rigid” policies and laws governing the issue, a senior Government official said.
“The laws and policies governing the provisions of affordable housing are very rigid. We feel that such policy frameworks need to be reviewed,” the Maharashtra Principal Secretary (Housing), Mr Sitaram Kunte, said. Though the demand for affordable houses is quite high, the lack of availability of land for low-cost housing projects remains a major hurdle before the Government, he said.
Mr Kunte said simplification of the procedures involved in the process was also required along with changes in laws.
RIGMAROLE
“At present, a developer has to go through a long procedure for assembling land for a project, which includes purchase of land and obtaining other necessary sanctions from multiple Government agencies. All these not only cause delays but also increase the cost. We need to simplify these processes and procedures,” he said. This would ensure construction of more and more affordable houses, he said. The Government, to some extent, is not in favour of affordable houses, he claimed.
“Recently, when the National Textile Corporation (NTC) had invited bids for auctioning its Bharat Textile Mill land, we (MHADA) requested the NTC to allot us a portion of the land for constructing affordable houses. But since the Government did not intervene, we had to shelve the idea,” Mr Kunte said.
RISING SAND PRICES
On the rising construction costs due to the rise in sand prices, Mr Kunte said, “The Government has appointed a committee to carry out a technical study whether any alternative to sand could be made, which would help in reducing the construction cost.”
This would ensure construction of more and more affordable houses, he said. He noted that the Government, to some extent, was not in favour of affordable houses.
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