The president of the Mumbai Congress, Varsha Gaikwad, alleged on Monday that a ₹5,000 crore scandal had occurred concerning a housing scheme for Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) in Malad, located in the northern part of the metropolis. She claimed this represents the "biggest PAP scam in Mumbai's history," arguing that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti government unethically favoured a developer by deliberately relaxing environmental and planning regulations. The Lok Sabha MP called for the immediate cancellation of the Malad PAP project, demanding a high-level investigation and criminal prosecution of the officials implicated.
Gaikwad told reporters that the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had conferred unfair advantages upon the developer through irregular reclassification and approvals. She asserted that the government changed land that was designated as a 'No Development Zone' (NDZ), which borders the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, into a residential zone and reserved it for police housing. However, instead of constructing police quarters, the land was used to propose a massive PAP project.
She specified that the 8.71 lakh square feet of land in Malad East was originally earmarked as an NDZ in the 2018 Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR-2034). Furthermore, she added that the area is hilly, lacks essential road access and amenities, and falls within an environmentally sensitive zone.
Gaikwad alleged that the state government issued an order on May 12, 2023, reclassifying the NDZ as a residential zone reserved for police housing. "However, no police housing units were constructed. Instead, the builder participated in a BMC tender on June 20, 2023, to build 13,347 PAP units under the Accommodation Reservation Policy in exchange for land TDR, construction TDR and credit notes to be sold in the open market for profit," the Congress leader stated.
The Congress leader pointed out that only 3.48 lakh square feet of land was designated for police housing, while 5.23 lakh square feet was allocated for the PAP units. She noted that regulations mandate the reserved portion must be constructed and handed over to the BMC before work on the PAP project can begin. "But for the favoured builder, even this norm was changed. On August 17, 2023, the Urban Development Department approved simultaneous development of both," Gaikwad claimed.
Accusing the authorities of artificially inflating land prices, Gaikwad said the BMC's technical committee had estimated the cost of each PAP unit at ₹32.21 lakh (excluding GST), yet the company quoted ₹58.18 lakh (including GST) and demanded an additional ₹44 lakh per unit as viability gap funding.
"Deliberate delays led to an artificial 58 per cent hike in land rates, increasing the developer's premium from ₹4,299.45 crore to ₹4,741.20 crore. Even though not a single brick has been laid, the BMC has already issued credit notes worth ₹948.24 crore and handed over 10.44 lakh square feet of land," Gaikwad alleged.
She further claimed that the project violates Supreme Court orders regarding eco-sensitive zones and directives from the National Board for Wildlife. "By granting the project a 'Project of Vital Importance' tag, BMC waived almost all development fees and premiums, causing loss of over ₹100 crore to the civic body, while the builder gained more than ₹1,000 crore without completing any work," she concluded.
Gaikwad insisted that the state government must cancel the Malad PAP project, recover all issued credit notes and land TDRs, and order a high-level, time-bound enquiry, followed by disciplinary and criminal action against the responsible officials.
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