MUMBAI: Mill workers and their heirs waiting for homes may soon get 12,000 more houses in Thane district. The Mumbai Board of MHADA plans to build them on two government land parcels at Hedutne and Uttarshiv, Loksatta reported.
The state government has approved about 4.5 hectares at Hedutne and about 7.5 hectares at Uttarshiv for mill workers’ housing. The board will get the land at a nominal rate of Re 1 per square metre.
The measurement of the Hedutne land has been completed, and the plot is expected to come into the board’s possession within a few days, a senior MHADA official told Loksatta. Measurement of the Uttarshiv land will begin soon, after which that land will also be handed over to the board.
Of the 12,000 houses, about 4,500 are planned at Hedutne and 7,500 at Uttarshiv. Once the land is in its possession, the board will float tenders and start construction.
MHADA received about 1.75 lakh applications under its scheme for houses on mill land. So far, 16,000 mill workers have been given houses, and 1.09 lakh mill workers have been found eligible.
With no land available in Mumbai to house more than one lakh eligible workers and heirs, the state government had directed MHADA to look for land in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The Mumbai board then sent the government a proposal for the two plots in Thane district.
With the housing of mill workers still a pressing issue, the 12,000 new homes come as a relief for workers and their heirs.