Mumbai: MHADA HQ in Bandra to get complete makeover – The Indian Express

MHADA vice-president Anil Diggikar told The Indian Express, “The Urban Development department will soon come up with a notification granting us clearance for redevelopment under Rule 33 (19) of Development Control Promotion Rules. We will get a FSI of 5. As a result, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority, all ancillary bodies of MHADA and appellate bodies can come under the same roof. We will get sanction for more offices and commercial units.”

The current MHADA headquarters was inaugurated in 1971 by then Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and is a five-storey building located on a plot of 19,023 square metres. Apart from the housing department, it also has other government offices.

Yogesh Mhase, chief officer of MHADA board, said, “We have two plans, one to redevelop the building ourselves and give the rest on commercial basis… and the second is to hand the property to a private developer and ask him to draw up the design. Two towers can be utilised by MHADA and two can be given on commercial basis.”

He said half of the building will be demolished first and two towers will come up, while the second half will be razed in the second part of the programme.

Due to height restrictions, no building over 16 storeys is allowed in this area as it is close to the city airport.

A senior MHADA employee said, “Our building actually does not need reconstruction. We need good repair work. But the repairs (undertaken before the pandemic) were not done properly. MHADA is a cash-rich organisation and has enough funds to self-finance the project. Instead of appointing a private builder or giving properties on rent to private entities, government bodies must be housed in this building to avoid capture of government land by private persons.”