Mail Today, June 4, 2009
Sena opposes housing scheme for ‘outsiders’
By Seema Kamdar in Mumbai
THE SHIV Sena has opposed the proposed construction of rental housing in Mumbai saying it will benefit people from outside the state.
Taking the sons- of- soil issue to centre stage, the party has opposed a mammoth project of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority ( MMRDA) to provide 43,000 houses on rent on the outskirts of the city for Rs 800 to Rs 1500 per month, without a domicile certificate.
Beating rival Maharashtra Navnirman Sena ( MNS) in their battle for the Marathi cause this once, the Shiv Sena has warned that it will not allow a single brick to be placed on the project site if the requirement of domicility was removed. Executive president of the party Uddhav Thackeray said the move would encourage hordes of outsiders to settle in Maharashtra.
Even as the MMRDA seemed to have retracted the proposed waiver of a domicile certificate showing a minimum residency of 15 years, the Sena slammed the project as a “ conspiracy to reduce Maharashtrians to a minority in Mumbai so that the city is eventually divorced from Maharashtra”. Development control rules make it mandatory for all housing schemes to cater to domiciled residents only. A change would call for modification of the rules, officials say.
Blaming the Congress for contriving against Maharashtrians, Thackeray alleged the idea had begun taking shape in the minds of Congress leaders the moment they were voted to power in all six seats of the city. However, he warned, the Sena will not allow such injustice to be perpetuated against the sons of the soil.
The Sena has struck well in time for the assembly elections later this year.
Alarmed at the growing reach of MNS, it has seen the dire necessity to retain its Marathi votebank. The protest against the project is a manifestation of its desire to make a stronger impact than the MNS. The Rs 7,000- crore project undertaken by private developer HDIL, will be located on a 525- acre plot, 2 km from Virar on the outskirts of the city. It will offer houses of around 160 sq feet on rent basis only and not for sale. The criterion for allottee is a family income of Rs 5,000 per month or below. The project will be implemented in five phases and the first lot is expected to be completed by 2011.
The MMRDA said the rental housing project is meant for domiciled residents “ only”. However, it also contradicted itself by saying those “ coming to Mumbai” will also be taken into consideration “ till they buy their own tenement”. Dilip Kawathkar, joint project director, said the scheme was meant to check the proliferation of slums. “ Obviously, any development project that will be undertaken by MMRDA would be for the sons of the soil of Maharashtra. Otherwise, the basic intent of establishing MMRDA would be defeated.” But he later added, “ The project is a stop- gap arrangement for those coming to Mumbai.”
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