Months after social activists, including Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, filed petitions in Bombay High Court, accusing Hiranandani of turning an affordable housing project into an upmarket scheme, the High Court on Wednesday stayed the construction activities in Powai, until it provides flats for weaker section of the society.
According to petitions filed by Patkar and other activists, Hiranandani had entered into a tripartite agreement with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the state government in 1986 to develop 92.93 hectares of land under the Powai area development scheme to build small, affordable flats for low-income groups. The PILs claimed that as per the agreement the builder was supposed to construct and sell flats of 40 sq metres and 80 sq metres (approximately 850 sq ft) but was instead amalgamating and selling flats as large as 4,000-5,000 sq ft at prices touching Rs. 7 crore.
The agreement had a provision whereby 15 per cent of the area was to be given to the state government as apartments. The petitioners alleged that as per the deal the state should have got around 1,800 homes. However, in reality the state did not get more than 234 homes.
While arguing in court, advocate Ashish Mehta, counsel for Patkar, was of the contention that the state should take over the Hiranandani land.
“The houses under construction should be acquired by the state. The remaining land should be handed over to Mhada to construct low-cost houses,” he told the court.
In its order, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Roshan Dalvi said that the developer shall not put up any further construction in remainder of the plot before specifying vacant land and buildings that can be constructed.
“We direct the developer to construct 1,511 flats of 40 square metres area and 1,593 flats of 80 square meters area without amalgamating. No two flats shall be sold to the same person or two members of the same family. The developer would not carry out any other construction in Powai Area Development Scheme (PADS) unless the High Court allows it. In the case of further construction, developer shall sell to the state government 15 per cent of the total FSI consumed in plot in the form of constructed tenements at Rs. 135 per square feet,” the bench said.