Mumbai: The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) will send a defaulter notice to the World Bank for non-payment of lease rent and non-agricultural rent for the past 22 years. The amount that the World Bank owes the development authority runs into crores.
“The notice is for the plots, that the Mhada leased to the World Bank back in the financial year of 1993-1994. The plots were leased by Mhada in exchange for the funds the World Bank provided to Mhada for construction of homes,” said Viraj Madhavi, deputy chief officer, Land and Estate Department, Mhada.
According to Mhada officials, many have not paid rent since 1994, as that was the last time that Mhada had carried out a drive to collect rent from the defaulters.
“The amount in case of World Bank runs into crores and the Mhada has started the process of calculating the amount. The process of calculation will be completed within 10 days and after that a defaulter notice will be served to the bank,” Ms Madhavi added.
The Mhada has undertaken a massive drive under which it is serving notices to every individual living in structures constructed by it to pay the rent or face legal action.
“We have identified the defaulters from the Mumbai region and in all the Mumbai board has to collect Rs 35 crore from the tenants in the Mumbai region. We have collected a sum of Rs 17 lakh in the past week by serving notices, said Chandrakant Dange, joint chief officer, Mumbai Board, Mhada.
Mhada had constructed Higher Income Group (HIG) houses and bungalows before leasing out the plots to World Bank. This was a part of the Bombay Urban Development Project funded by the World Bank. It consisted of assistance and financing of 85,000 residential, commercial and small industrial plots.
In the case of the tenants residing in the transit camps of Mhada, which are maintained by the Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), the outstanding amount is Rs 120 crore and we have started a massive drive of sending default notices after which people have started paying rent,” said Vishal Deshmukh, deputy chief officer, MBRRB.
