MUMBAI, August 13: Transit camps will be built on the mill lands accruing to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) under the sale of mill lands sanctioned by the state government.

Announcing the step at a press conference today, Housing Minister Sureshdada said this will boost the Slum Re-development (SRD) scheme which has been delayed due to shortage of transit tenements. The scheme is being implemented by Slum Re-development Authority (SRA). One third of Matulya mills land will be used for transit camps, Jain specified. He denied that the land, most of which was situated within city limits, would be used for building flats for the higher income groups.

MHADA at present has 21,000 transit camps and needs about 1.25 lakh camps for fulfilling the needs of the SRA. It has also plans to build 25,000 transit tenements in the coming 6 to 18 months. ``MHADA has enough assets on the basis of which it can borrow money to construct the tenements. Once the slumdwellers come to reside there, the builder will pay for the rents of the residents, till their houses are built,'' he said.

Launched by the state government, the housing scheme is one of the Shiv Sena's main election planks. It promised free houses for 40 lakh slumdwellers in the city during its five year tenure. At the end of nearly half its term in office, only one lakh slumdwellers have come forward with SRD proposals and work has been in around 400 locations in the metropolis. In an effort to boost the scheme, Jain, who recently took over as housing minister has charted some changes to reduce red-tapism, increase the builder's confidence and bring amendments in the DC regulations.

The minister said the builder can now pay the deposits of Rs 20,000 and other infrastructure fees in installments. The minister firmly refuted that a real estate slump was responsible for the failure of the SRD scheme, adding the housing ministry could build high-rise buildings under the SRD scheme even under the Coastal Regulatory Zone regulations.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.