30 years on, mill workers get homes where they once toiled for a living

While the applicants have got lucky at MHADA's two lotteries, one of which was held yesterday, they too won’t get hold of their flats’ keys for at least a year

While only 9,559 mill workers out of the 1.48 lakh applicants have got lucky at the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority’s (MHADA) two lotteries, one of which was held yesterday, they too won’t get hold of their flats’ keys for at least a year.

One of the under construction buildings being built by MHADA where the Western India Mill once stood at Lalbaug. Pic/Ajinkya Sawant

This is due to two reasons: Firstly, some of these buildings are still under construction and secondly, a case filed by Karamchari Niwara and Kalyankari Sangh, an NGO representing mill workers, asking how MHADA plans to allot flats to 1.48 lakh workers when it has space for just 11,977, stops the authority from giving possession until court order. The authority is constructing buildings on the land of six mills.

In the last week of April, Bombay High Court gave MHADA three weeks’ time to come up with an answer as to how will it allot housing. While the third and last phase of lottery, which will be conducted in August, will have 2,418 awardees, the other two saw lotteries being awarded to 6,925 and 2,634 people.

Monday’s lottery
More than 500 people were present at the Rangasharda auditorium in Bandra for the second phase of the lottery, along with Chief Minster Devendra Fadnavis, other ministers and MHADA officials.

The authority will also check the eligibility of the winners by verifying their documents.

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