The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has officially been designated as the competent authority to declare cessed buildings unsafe, following the publication of a government gazette notification on Monday. The move is expected to remove a key legal hurdle in the redevelopment of nearly 13,800 ageing cessed buildings across South Mumbai, although the process now awaits a final ruling from the Supreme Court.
As per the notification, MHADA has been granted the authority to identify cessed buildings as highly dangerous, while the Executive Engineer of MHADA’s Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board has been appointed as the authorised officer to issue notices under Section 79(A).
MHADA’s Repair Board is responsible for maintaining and redeveloping pre-1969 cessed buildings in South Mumbai. Most of these structures have exceeded their repairable lifespan and require urgent redevelopment. However, redevelopment efforts have remained stalled due to legal disputes over MHADA’s authority.
To accelerate redevelopment, the state government had introduced a policy under Section 79(A), allowing notices to be issued to unsafe buildings seeking redevelopment proposals. More than 900 buildings received such notices. However, several building owners challenged them in court, arguing that MHADA was not legally empowered to declare buildings unsafe.
The Bombay High Court accepted this contention and invalidated the notices, prompting MHADA to approach the Supreme Court. As the matter remained pending, redevelopment proceedings under Section 79(A) were put on hold.
Following demands from residents and organisations such as the Pagdi Ekta Sangh, the Maharashtra Legislature recently amended the MHADA Act, formally recognising MHADA as the competent authority. The gazette notification has now brought the amendment into effect.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter on August 20. If the court upholds the amendment, redevelopment of approximately 13,800 cessed buildings is expected to gain momentum, providing long-awaited relief to thousands of residents living in structurally unsafe buildings.
Source: Loksatta
