Govt secretariat in Mumbai flooded for “Rs54,000-homes”

A ruse that the Maharashtra state government is offering low-cost flats costing Rs54,000 in Powai in the central suburbs under the so-called "low-cost housing scheme claimed to have been floated by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan," created a rush to the state secretariat `Mantralaya', prompting the administration to make announcements even through the railways' communication networks that no such scheme existed.

Hundreds of people from Mumbai and adjoining areas have been thronging Mantralaya to submit forms for a low-cost housing scheme, which the chief minister's office said did not exist.

People filled the forms in the hope of getting a house in Powai for a meagre Rs54,000, something one cannot even imagine.

The chief minister's office had yesterday issued a clarification that no such scheme had been sanctioned by the government and the so-called forms were bogus.

This, however, did not help dissuade people or dampen their spirits and the rush continued on the second day today.

Official sources said an inquiry will be conducted to ascertain what exactly led to this bogus claim and the subsequent mad rush at Mantralaya, the state Secretariat.

One of the forms bore the Congress motto "Congress ka haath Aam Aadmi ke saath."

The form said, "I belong to the economically weaker section. Since the government is allocating houses to the economically weaker sections under its 1987 Powai Development Scheme, I wish to apply for the same 3,000 homes measuring 400 sq ft being developed by Hirandandani Builders under this scheme."

Reports quoting some labour activists, meanwhile said there are apartments in the Hiranandani complex which should have been allotted to the homeless among the poor. The state government leased out the surplus 240 acres in Powai acquired under the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA) to Hiranandani group at 40 paise per acre.

This was done under the ULC exemption clause as per which the developer had to construct modest sized homes of 400 sq ft and 800 sq ft.

The ULCA, repealed in 2007, was meant to prevent concentration of land and housing in the hands of a few, he said. Hiranandani clubbed these with other flats to create bigger flats of 1,200 to 5,000 sq ft residences for high-end clients in over 70 residential and commercial towers.

"Fifteen per cent of the total apartments were to be handed back to the state government for the sake of public housing at the rate of Rs135 per sq ft. The cost of each 400 sq ft apartment thus works out to Rs54,000, which is what is printed on the forms," the report quoted Milind Ranade as saying.