Mumbai: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has identified nearly 13,000 illegal tenants who have sold, rented and gifted tenements within 10 years from the date of possession. It is a breach under the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance, and Redevelopment) Act of 1971. The Ghatkopar constituency, led by Prakash Mehta, the Maharashtra Housing Minister, ranks third for such illegal transfers of SRA flats. Ghatkopar has 966 illegal occupants in the SRA buildings. Mehta did not respond to the repeated calls and text messages for comment.
According to the MSA Act, flat owners in SRA buildings cannot transfer the ownership of their flats constructed under slum rehabilitation schemes, within 10 years from the date of possession. In Andheri-1 (on collector’s land), SRA buildings have 1,025 illegal occupants while Dadar West (G North) ranks second with 988 illegal occupants. Following a Bombay High Court direction, the SRA identified these illegal occupants after a survey of all allotments to study from 1995, to investigate the number of such tenants who have sold or rented out their flats to others within 10 years.
A senior SRA official, requesting confidentiality, said, the SRA projects have been completed and the eligible slum-dwellers have been allotted houses. A list has been prepared and handed over to concerned authorities to take action. “The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Collector of Mumbai suburban and city, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp Ltd will evict the illegal occupants at the SRA buildings. These authorities can send notices under the restriction on transfer of tenements (Section 3E) of the Maharashtra Slum Act and retain their possession,” said the official.
The official said, the competent authority has to give a hearing, informing them of the violation of the slum act. “If the authorities find anything fraudulent, they can pass an order of eviction against such flat owners. The occupants can challenge the order with the Grievance Redressal Cell (GRC),” stated the official. In November 2016, Mehta had written to the State Law and Judiciary department to pass an ordinance and amend the Slum Act of 1971, to regularise the illegal transfer of SRA flats ownership.