The Maharashtra government has ordered an inquiry into Slum Rehabilitation Authority projects in Mumbai where developers allegedly failed to transfer completed permanent transit tenements, while still receiving floor space benefits for sale buildings, according to a report by Loksatta. Authorities are also examining possible action against developers and officials involved in such cases.
Deputy Chief Minister and Housing Minister Eknath Shinde issued the orders after a meeting at his residence, where Member of Parliament Ravindra Waikar raised complaints about projects in Raghavendra Nagar, Sugam and Bhagat Singh Nagar. Waikar said buildings intended to provide permanent transit accommodation had been completed but had not been handed over by the developers, the report said.
A senior official said the authority would take action against developers who delay or fail to transfer such tenements. The Slum Rehabilitation Authority has begun collecting information about projects in which permanent transit buildings were not transferred to the authority. Officials will also examine cases where floor space benefits for sale buildings were granted despite the required transit tenements not being handed over.
The scrutiny will include both developers and relevant SRA officials if the benefits were released without compliance, according to the report. The Urban Development Department has not yet issued a clarification on the matter.
Permanent transit tenements are linked to the development benefits available under Development Control Regulation 33(11), a provision used for slum rehabilitation schemes on certain vacant plots. Under the arrangement described in the report, developers can receive a total floor space benefit equivalent to four times the plot area. The original floor space benefit is equivalent to one times the plot area, while 1.5 times the plot area must be used to construct separate permanent transit tenements.
These tenements are required to be constructed within a five-kilometre radius of the project, following the applicable location conditions described as east-to-east, west-to-west and city-to-city. The requirement is intended to ensure that eligible residents receive permanent accommodation connected to the redevelopment process rather than being left in temporary housing arrangements.
The issue has also been raised in the context of a wider group of projects. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide had previously pointed to more than 300 projects under the authority and alleged that irregularities may have occurred across them, according to the report. The latest inquiry will determine whether developers received sale-related floor space benefits without fulfilling their obligations to provide and transfer the required tenements.
The SRA is now compiling project-level information, while the government’s inquiry is expected to establish the extent of non-compliance and identify responsibility. Any further action against developers or officials will follow the authority’s examination and the government’s review.
