After successful negotiations between Sena and BJP on Sunday, it was expected that the cabinet would approve the project in the same spirit. However, after Revenue Minister Narayan Rane raised objections on the procedure adopted for dereservation of plots required for the scheme, the decision was deferred.

As per the laid down procedure, the proposal for dereservation of plots should have been moved by the Revenue Department since these were revenue plots, however at today's cabinet meeting, Housing Minister Sureshdada Jain moved the proposal.

Now, all the dereservation proposals are stuck with Rane insisting that objections from public be called as laid down under the Development Control Rules and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Act before any reserved plots are touched. Thatmeans it would be another three months before the ambitious housing scheme, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's pet project, takes off.

And officials believe it may not be the end of troubles for SSPP. MHADA, which is supposed to give 100 hectares of its land to the SSP company, has only about 11.5 hectares of open land in hand. A large portion of MHADA land is under litigation or is reserved. Chandrashekhar Prabhu, former MHADA president, said even the rationale behind making MHADA cough up Rs 300 crore of tax payers' money towards SSP company's seed money was questionable. He pointed out that neither MHADA nor MMRDA (MMRDA too has been asked to pay Rs 300 crore) could give the money as a grant. The amount would have to be extended as a loan. ``And if it's a loan what would the rate of interest be?'' he asked. Prabhu pointed out that MHADA funds were not restricted for the Mumbai board alone. There are seven boards of MHADA. ``How prudent is it to put a major amount like Rs 300 crore in one scheme which isrestricted to a single city?'' he asked.

Even the MMRDA whose primary role is to build the city's infrastructure may be deviating from its obligations, which include the high-profile Bandra Kurla Complex. Meanwhile, it was learnt that the revised target of constructing 50,000 houses would actually entail identifying space for only 25,000 tenements as the other half will comprise of tenements already sanctioned under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), SSPP's former avatar. SRA had sanctioned around 137 schemes involving 75,000-odd tenements to private builders.

However, construction work is going on only on around 25,000 houses, revealed SRA authorities. These will now be incorporated in the SSPP. Also, since SSPP has been made a fully government-owned company, it will now come under Section 617 of the Companies Act and it will be obligatory on its part to present its annual report on the floor of the House.

SSPP: the downslide