MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) is going to put up 3,500 more flats for sale. MHADA forms 2010 can be got between 1st Jan to 21 Jan 2010. MHADA forms can be submitted from 2nd Jan 2010 & 22nd Jan, 2010 from all the Saraswat Bank branches. As per reports, 88% flats are given to economically weak sections & only 12 percent of these flats will be allotted to middle & high income people.

The application forms of MHADA to buy these flats can be got from selected fifteen HDFC branches. The Maharashtra Housing Board has built houses at in Sion (Pratiksha Nagar), Sahakar Nagar (Chembur), Canara Engineering (Ghatkopar) , Shailendra Nagar (Dahisar), Goregaon (Bimbisar Nagar & Siddharth Nagar), Vikroli (Chandivli, Tagore Nagar & Kannamwar Nagar) and Versova (Andheri).

The detailed information about MHADA Mumbai visit at MHADA Website: http://mhada.maharashtra.gov.in/

For  Branch Addresses & Details of Payments … http://mhada.maharashtra.gov.in/sites/default/files/mhadaadd_english.pdf

As reported in TOI by Shalini Nair on Monday , Nov 23, 2009

Some have no water, some no electricity and some neither. After the initial euphoria over the draw of lots for MHADA flats, most of the buyers find they cannot move into their brand new homes, with the taps dry and no electricity supply.

Lots had been drawn for 3,863 flats in May, and MHADA plans to issue forms in December for its next lot of 4000-odd houses in Ghatkopar, Dahisar, Versova, Mankhurd, Malvani and Sion.

In the six months since their allotment, very few of the flats of the first batch have been occupied. In many colonies, electricity is being provided on a temporary basis, leaving lifts unworkable. In some, like Kanara Engineering in Ghatkopar, there is no electricity at all. Water supply is yet to start at Kannamwar Nagar and Tagore Nagar in Vikhroli, Shailendra Nagar in Dahisar, Shastri Nagar in Goregaon and at Versova. At Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, there is neither water nor electricity.

As reported in topnews.in by Sarthak Gupta on Thu, 10/29/2009  :

The city’s Great Low-CostHousing Lottery is back — in an improved version.

The MaharashtraHousing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) is working to bring a fresh lot of 4,000 to 5,000 subsidisedhouses — again by draw of lottery — on the market this December.

And this time, MHADA will return unsuccessful applicants’ money by electronically crediting theirbank accounts, within 24 hours of the results being announced — unlike its last such auction, when those who didn’t draw the lucky numbers had cheques couriered to them.

The new lot of houses is located in places like Mankhurd, Gorai, Magathane, Malad-Malvani, Sion, Ghatkopar and Versova. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Gautam Chaterjee, vice-president, MHADA, said the board plans to construct a minimum of 5,000 houses every year.

“Our houses get tremendous response, and we are committed to offering good qualitysubsidised homes,” said Chaterjee. In Mumbai, where real-estate prices are among the highest in the world, MHADA’s subsidised houses always attract lakhs of applicants, which the housing board whittles down to a few fortunate thousands using a lottery system. In January, 4.34 lakh people applied for 3,863 low-cost MHADA flats, using a computerisedlottery system. However, MHADA’s plan of allowing people to fill forms online this year, will not materialise. “That will take at least another six months to complete as the tenders for the system have not been invited yet, so we’re sticking to the old manual method of filling forms,” said Chaterjee.

This time, though, applicants will need to specify their bank account numbers, and MHADA will refund money to unsuccessful applicants by the Electronic Clearance System, which will directly credit the applicant’s account within 24 hours of the results being announced.

Flat scheme challenged in SC

A Special Leave Petition (SLP) has been filed with the Supreme Court against flat allotments made by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), through a lottery system.

Gayasingh Yadav (80), ex-servicemen, has approached the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court had dismissed his petition, allowing Mhada to hand over possession of the 3,853 flats.

In July, Yadav filed a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging that the software used for flat allotments through the lottery system was faulty. The high court initially ordered a stay on the allotments. But after Mhada executives assured that the applications had been thoroughly scrutinised, the stay was vacated. The order prompted Yadav to approach the Supreme Court. The SLP is likely to come up for hearing next week.

“Mhada’s attitude shows no respect to the report by Comptroller and Auditor General which had slammed the system used by the housing authority in 2006 and 2007 for lottery, Mhada has used the same system for allotting flats through lottery this year,” said Ahmed Abdi, Yadav’s lawyer.

Yadav’s PIL in the high court also suggested that Mhada should take help from National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM — premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPO industries in India) for framing guidelines for the lottery system software.

Anticipating an SLP by Yadav, Mhada had already filed a caveat in the Supreme Court last week seeking that no orders should be passed on the matter without hearing their arguments.

As reported in TOI by V Narayan , on 2 October 2009

The RCF police on Wednesday arrested a 30-year-old youth on charges of duping seven persons by collecting Rs 15.26 lakh and promising them Mhada flats in Vashi Naka, Chembur.

The police have arrested real estate agent Harshwardhan Palakmol and are on the lookout for his six accomplices. Palakmol is remanded in police custody till October 6. The police expect more complaints.

In his complaint, a garment dealer from Chembur, Ajinath Kamble (30), said Palakmol had promised him a flat for Rs 2.25 lakh. Kamble said Palakmol hadshowed him and other interested buyers documents of flats and issued receipts of the money collected.

“The accused gained the confidence of the victims by showing some vacant flats,” said inspector Shailesh Pasalwar.

Sub-inspector Chandrakant Dalvi said that the Palakmol got the idea after some people approached him two years ago to enquire about Mhada flats.

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has promised another 3,170 low-cost flats by the end of the year. These flats are coming up in prime areas like Powai, Ghatkopar, Mankhurd and Sion.

“This time, we will concentrate on economically weaker sections and mill worker housing as the Centre has approved Rs 1.65 lakh and Rs 2.10 lakh per house respectively under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission,” said Amarjit Singh Manhas, chairman of the housing board.

A total of 12,000 flats will be up for grabs by the end of 2010, and another 12,000 by the end of the following year, MHADA has promised.

These projects will also include housing for mill workers on the 11 mill land properties acquired by the authority.

Meanwhile, 70 existing MHADA projects have been granted permission for redevelopment.

They will be rebuilt with a floor space index (FSI) of 2.5, upped recently from the earlier FSI of 1 in the suburbs.

FSI is an indicator of how high a developer can build on a plot. An FSI of 2 means the total constructed area of a building can be twice the area of the plot on which it is built.

Anticipating the higher FSI, many MHADA complexes had put off their revamp plans, leading to a complete freeze on redevelopment since 2005.

The Mumbai housing board presented a budget of Rs 2,974 crore on Friday, with a deficit of Rs 38 crore.