Mumbai, Nov 3 (PTI) Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad on Monday alleged a Rs 5000 crore scam in a housing scheme for project-affected persons (PAPs) in Malad in the northern part of the metropolis.
She claimed it is the “biggest PAP scam in Mumbai’s history” adding that the BJP-led Mahayuti government favoured a builder by bending environmental and planning norms.
The Lok Sabha MP sought immediate cancellation of the Malad PAP project, a high-level probe, and criminal action against the officials involved.
“The state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) granted undue benefits to the builder through irregular reclassification and approvals. The government turned a ‘No Development Zone’ (NDZ) land adjoining Sanjay Gandhi National Park into a residential zone and reserved it for police housing. Instead of building police quarters, the land was used to propose a massive PAP project,” Gaikwad told reporters.
The 8.71 lakh square feet land in Malad East was originally marked as an NDZ in the 2018 Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR-2034), she said, adding the area is hilly, lacks road access and basic amenities, and falls within an environmentally sensitive zone.
The state government issued an order on May 12, 2023 reclassifying the NDZ as a residential zone and reserving it for police housing, she claimed.
“However, no police housing units were constructed. Instead, the builder participated in a BMC tender on June 20, 2023, to build 13,347 PAP units under the Accommodation Reservation Policy in exchange for land TDR, construction TDR and credit notes to be sold in the open market for profit,” Gaikwad said.
The Congress leader said only 3.48 lakh square feet of land was earmarked for police housing, while 5.23 lakh square feet was allotted for PAP units.
“Rules mandate that the reserved portion must be built and handed over to BMC before the PAP project begins. But for the favoured builder, even this norm was changed. On August 17, 2023, the Urban Development Department approved simultaneous development of both,” Gaikwad said.
Accusing the authorities of inflating land rates, Gaikwad said BMC’s technical committee had estimated each PAP unit’s cost at Rs 32.21 lakh (excluding GST), while the company quoted Rs 58.18 lakh (including GST) and demanded an additional Rs 44 lakh per unit as viability gap funding.
“Deliberate delays led to an artificial 58 per cent hike in land rates, increasing the developer’s premium from Rs 4,299.45 crore to Rs 4,741.20 crore. Even though not a single brick has been laid, the BMC has already issued credit notes worth Rs 948.24 crore and handed over 10.44 lakh square feet of land,” Gaikwad alleged.
She further claimed the project violated Supreme Court orders on eco-sensitive zones and National Board for Wildlife directives.
“By granting the project a ‘Project of Vital Importance’ tag, BMC waived almost all development fees and premiums, causing loss of over Rs 100 crore to the civic body, while the builder gained more than Rs 1,000 crore without completing any work,” she said.
The state government must cancel the Malad PAP project, recover all credit notes and land TDRs issued, and order a time-bound, high-level inquiry followed by disciplinary and criminal action against responsible officials, Gaikwad said. PTI MR BNM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.