Find the Strength of Society!!!!!!!!!!!

Residential real estate in Mumbai's peripheral areas has witnessed quite a few newsworthy events but this one is special: the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) cut across political affiliations and passed a resolution that would allow developers to go ahead with construction of residential buildings, without the earlier prerequisite of non-agricultural (NA) status of the land. MBMC mayor, Narendra Mehta called it the 'coming together of common minds for the benefit of home seekers'. "There is a legal issue pending before the Mumbai high court, the subject matter of which deals with a legal pre-requisite for getting the NA clearance, required as per MBMC rules, at the stage when the developer commences construction (the CC stage). This created a situation where, in the past few months, most developers did not commence work," explained Mehta. The MBMC has now passed a resolution, making the NA necessary at the stage of obtaining the occupancy certificate (OC) i.e., when the building is ready for possession. Former president of the MBMC, Praful Patil, lauded the move saying, "The MBMC has shown that it is responsive to the concerns of home buyers." The resolution should re-start new construction activity which has been at a stand-still in Mira-Bhayandar, for some time now, said Atul Shah of the Goldstar Group. "If status quo had continued, Mira-Bhayandar would have run out of fresh stock of residential realty. Alternately, the issue pending before the high court, would have effectively added Rs 250 per sq ft to the cost of homes in any residential project launched after October last year," adds Shah. "In a sluggish market scenario, the last thing one would want is an extra levy of Rs 250 per sq ft," says developer, Suresh Kabra, who is an office bearer at the Builders' Association. "While waiting for the court's decision, developers got together and proactively sought an interim solution for this problem. Thankfully, our elected representatives supported the move, passing the resolution which makes the NA status necessary at the OC stage, instead of at the CC stage, as used to be the case," he said. Developer Mahendra Kothari said the solution, although interim, was a 'practical solution' to ensure that home seekers continue to regard Mira-Bhayandar as the ideal residential destination, at prices that were affordable. Terming it as a 'welcome' step, estate agent, Girish Gohil, added that the primary issue pending before the high court needed to be redressed at the earliest. Echoing this sentiment is mayor Mehta, who added that the new MBMC municipal commissioner was likely to seek an opinion from the state government's law and judiciary department with regards to whether he could implement the resolution passed by the MBMC. For the moment, however, unity among developers has led MBMC to create history of sorts - by cutting across party lines and passing a resolution that would make home seekers' task a bit easier.