LAND PROCUREMENT FOR LOW INCOME HOUSING

CASE STUDY OF MAHARASHTRA STATE

Prakash M. Apte

INTRODUCTION

The state of Maharashtra ranks highest in India in quantum as well as proportion of Urban to the total population. The rate of economic and industrial growth is higher than most other states and so is the per capita income. But the housing activity in public and private sector has not kept pace with this growth.

MAP OF INDIA SHOWING STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Land is an important and basic resource for housing. Various Laws or Acts like, the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (ULC), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act 1976 (MHADA Act), Bombay Metropolitan Region Development Authority Act 1974 (BMRDA),

Mahrashtra Regional and Town Planning Act 1966 (MRTP Act), etc. in force in the state do have provisions to facilitate availability of land for public housing.

But what has been the real impact of all these legislations in making land available for housing? Have these legislations helped or have in fact become hurdles to the land becoming available in the open market? Why has the availability of land for housing not kept pace with the requirements? What ails the land procurement efforts of the private and public housing agencies?

Tis study was undertaken to find answers to these questions and identify the problems, and suggest some strategies for the future. Such strategies, though with specific reference to Maharashtra, might be applicable to other states as well which have similar developmental problems.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To highlight aspects of present legislation affecting land procurement for housing;

2. To assess their effectiveness in actual procurement of land;

3. To identify specific problems of public authorities in procurement of land;

4. To assess the extent of interface achieved between socio-political philosophy and implementation of policies of land procurement;

5. To suggest improvement in the land procurement policies and;

6. To suggest innovations that may help increase availability of serviced land for housing.

MAHARASHTRA STATE : A STATUS REPORT

Maharashtra ranks third in India in terms of area and population. It ranks first in terms of quantum of urban population and its percentage to total population. The rate of growth of urban areas in the state is also higher as compared to many other states in the country. Its per capita income is higher than the country’s average. It is considered to be one of the most progressive states in the country. The proportion of Urban to total population in the state is 37.3% against an all India average of 25.2%. The second most urbanized state is Gujarat with an Urban population of 34.4%

Maharashtra is the third largest state in the country and it ranks first in terms of degree of urbanization. This position has remained unchanged since independence. The state has played an important role in designing policies, legislation and strategies for development of urban areas in general and housing in particular. The rate of growth of Urban to total population has been rising from about 15% to 40% between 1901 to 2001.

Apart from the study of the growth of population it is interesting to study the growth of urban areas in the state. The details are given in the Table Nos.4, 5, and 6. The rate of growth of different class of cities show that the bigger towns i.e. Class I cities (mostly the Metropolitan cities) are growing at a faster rate than many other cities. Certain Class II and Class III cities have much higher growth rate than other cities within the same class. Most of such cities are very close to large urban centres. In certain cases some urban centres have greater population than the headquarters of the district in which these centres are situated. By and large, the number of urban centres have not undergone much variation only the centres have changed their class from time to time.

The urban population of the state is 38.73% of the total population. It has been growing at a rate higher than the growth rate of total population and consistently so since independent. As per 1991 census the urban population is distributed in 307 urban areas of different sizes. However, the Bombay Metropolitan Region accounts for about 50% of the urban population! Pune and Nagpur Metro Regions account for 15% of the urban population. Another 15% is distributed in about 45 Class I and Class II towns. Thus only 20% of the urban population is located in over 200 urban centres of Class III and below.

The present study is restricted to 25 Class I towns of the state. The Class I cities are spread over the state and their locations are shown in the Map below. The total population of all these cities as on 1991 is 245.62 lakhs with a total area of over 2000 Sq.Kms. The details are given in Table No.7. It can be seen that the average density works out to 75 persons per Ha. If the rate of growth of 1981-91 decade remains constant for the next decade then about 8.03 lakhs persons will have to be

accommodated in these cities per annum. At an average density of 250 persons per Ha. the land area requirement will be to the tune of 1600 Ha. per annum for all these cities put together. Making available this land and its development in a gigantic task. This task is to be handled by the various agencies engaged in the shelter sector. In Maharashtra state following public agencies are engaged in the field of Urban Development and-Housing .

1. Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority. (MHADA)2. Bombay Metropolitan Region Development Authority. (BMRDA)3. City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra

Limited. (CIDCO)4. Nagpur Improvement Trust. (NIT)5. Pimpri Chinchwad New Town Development Authority. (PCNTDA)6. Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils.7. Cantonment Boards.

8. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (MIDC)

9. Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority. (MHADA)10. Bombay Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

(BMRDA)11. City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra

Limited. (CIDCO)12. Nagpur Improvement Trust. (NIT)13. Pimpri Chinchwad New Town Development Authority.

(PCNTDA)14. Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils.15. Cantonment Boards.16. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (MIDC)

In the past the emphasis was on acquisition, development of land and construction of dwelling units. The role of state as FACILITATOR is being emphasized now but the exact line of action is yet not clear. The existing legislations were designed to suit the role of PROVIDER and not for the new role of FACILITATOR. This has affected the overall performance of these agencies in the shelter sector. The current legislation has its focus on acquisition of land and the procedure is different in different Acts.

The state has following legislation for procurement of land for housing by various public agencies mentioned above.

1. Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976. (MHADA Act)

2. Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act 1966. (MR&TP Act)3. Bombay Metropolitan Region Development Authority Act 1974.

(BMRDA)4. Land Acquisition Act 1894. (LA Act)5. Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act 1976. (ULC Act)6. Nagpur Improvement Trust Act. (NIT Act)

It is necessary to study the provisions of all these statutes as they relate to the acquisition of land, time involved, amount of compensation payable in respect of land taken over and then to study the utilization of the provisions in actual acquisition of land. Accordingly, data on land acquisition in the state has been collected and presented hereafter. Important provisions of the legislation are explained in comparative manner in brief in Table No.27. Detailed review is presented in subsequent text.

URBAN HOUSING AND LAND MANAGEMENT: A REVIEW Till the year 1947, in the absence of a defined Housing Policy the actions in the field of housing were restricted to identified socio-economic groups. Even in the early years after independence, the activities in the Housing sector were focused on such groups. The Housing Board in the state was formed to construct houses of standarised design, specifications and costs for identified groups like refugees after partition, project affected persons, industrial workers and slum dwellers. There was no specific attention to general requirement of housing due to the growth of cities either by natural growth or by migration.

As the cities grew rapidly in the fifties and the sixties attention of the policy makers was drawn towards the problems of urban areas and this resulted in direct involvement of Government in urban housing and land management issues. This led to formulation of specific policies and enactment of special legislation like Town planning Act 1954 and Slum Areas Act 1956.

In the Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) of India the committee on urban land policy (1965) suggested the following as goals for the land policy:

(a)To achieve optimum social use of urban land.

(b)To make land available in adequate quantity, at the right time and at reasonable prices to both public authorities and individuals.

(c) To encourage cooperative community effort and bonafide individual builders in the field of land development, housing and construction.

(d)To prevent concentration of land ownership in a few private hands and especially to safeguard the interests of the poor and underprivileged section of urban society.

Some of the major problems facing the urban areas were identified as overcrowding, congestion, slums, non-conforming users, lack of community facilities, rising land prices, growing unearned increments and underutilization of land.

The state town planning legislation was used to deal with these problems. The preparation of Urban Development Plans, enforcement of zoning and Development Control Regulations and Acquisition of land for implementation of the Development Plans were actions taken by the state to deal with the various problems. The result however was far from satisfactory due to the inherent limitations of the legislation and procedural delays.

During the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79) another objective was added to the policies on Urban Land Management. To allow land to be used as a resource for financing urban development. This resulted in further emphasis on acquisition of land by public agencies. However, the policy was not supported by efficient land taxation, registration and management systems and effective administrative machinery.

The most significant Urban Land Management initiative of the period was the enactment of the URBAN LAND (CEILING AND REGULATION) ACT 1976 (ULC ACT). The aim was to put a ceiling on the area of vacant land which can be held by an individual in selected urban areas. This was an attempt to check speculation. It was expected that large areas of land in urban centres would become available for housing of the weaker sections and for community facilities. The amount payable for the compulsory take over of the surplus vacant land beyond the prescribed ceiling limit and its manner of payment was also laid down in the text of the said legislation.

The consequence however was that the quantum of vacant land available for development was severely restricted in supply and as a result, land prices rose to absurd levels and it become almost impossible for most people to buy a plot of land for construction of their own shelter particularly in large cities.

The Land Acquisition Act 1894 is the major legal tool used for land procurement since independence. The Act has been amended from time to time. After the fourth constitutional amendment in 1955 when the definition of “public purpose” was broadened, it was effectively

utilized as a basic guideline for further legislations for acquisition of land under Town Planning Acts, Development Authorities Acts and Improvement Trust Acts.

Unprecedented growth of urban areas and consequent growth of slums attracted attention of all concerned and some new legislation was enacted. The Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act 1971, for the first time provided a special, speedier acquisition procedure and a new system for determining compensation for compulsory acquisition of land. All activities under this Act are defined as “public purpose”.

After the 22nd amendment to the Constitution in the year 1969, when the word COMPENSATION was substituted by the word AMOUNT it became possible to make many changes in legislations concerning LAND. Major Acts like Maharshtra Housing and Area Development Act 1976 and Bombay Metropolitan Regional Development Authority Act 1974 were provided with different norms about “amount” in lieu of compulsory acquisition of land. This set up a landmark in legislation about land acquisition. In urban areas it allows 100 times monthly return as amount payable for acquisition of land. These Acts have stood the test in the Supreme Court of the country.

A significant step in a progressive policy for socialization of urban land was the enactment of Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act 1976. This was the most significant initiative of the period in the field of Urban Land Management. The Act put a ceiling on the area of vacant land which could be owned by one person. The Act is applicable in nine urban agglomerations in the state.

It was expected that as a result of this enactment large areas of urban land will become available at a low price to Government and public agencies. Ironically, though large areas have been identified as surplus under this Act, actually, only about 2% of this land has been taken over by the Government. Details of these lands are given subsequently. Litigations, administrative constraints, capacity of public agencies to take over and develop the lands in short period and lack of political willingness to implement the Act effectively have been the hurdles in making available developable lands.

Impact of Urban Land Legislation on Prices

Though the main objective of the Urban Land Management Strategies was to restrain unwarranted price rise, the result has been the reverse. The various urban land legislations have resulted in being “impediments” rather than “instruments” to achieve the goals. All this has led to rise in price of urban land and has also affected its availability in the market. The land prices have registered increase upto 1000% in last 15 years in some parts of Bombay i.e. between years 1966 and 1981. This can be compared to the increase in cost of living which was only 280% during the same period.

It is interesting to compare this rise in the prices of urban land with the rise in the prices of Gold, Silver and Shares, which are the other major investment instruments. The details of price indexes for these commodities are given in the Tables No.28 and 29. The Economic Times Index gained more than 400 points during the period from January 1980 to December 1989 for equity shares. During the same period the index of gold prices gained only 145 points and the silver price index gained about 120 points. The percentage increase works out to 400 for shares, 120 for Gold and 82 for Silver. Thus land prices which rose by 1000% have definitely scored over all these commodities. In Bombay, the percentage increase has been more than twice that of shares and almost ten times that of gold and silver!

Considering the importance of availability of land for development activities it may be necessary to study and compare the profitability of investment in various commodities seriously. Judging by current data it may be necessary to curb the investment in land by granting concessions in return as well as limits of investment in other commodities to reduce pressure of investment in land.

LAND ACQUISITION:

ACQUISITION UNDER LAND ACQUISITION ACT 1894 (LA ACT)

Prior to the enactment of special Acts like MHADA Act, BMRDA Act, etc. this was the only statute available for acquisition of land for various public purposes including housing. Even now, public agencies, except

MHADA and BMRDA, have to use only this Act for acquisition of land for their activities. The CIDCO, Municipal Corporation and Councils are required to use this Act for their activities.

Municipal Corporations and Councils acquire lands for various public purposes. The percentage of land required for housing is less as compared to other users. Certain Municipal Councils have acquired lands for IUDP and IDSMT schemes. In these schemes the component of housing or shelter is sufficiently large. However the towns covered under these schemes are mostly small towns and not included in this study.

There is also provision of payment of solatium. Even then the actual compensation payable in land acquisition cases is always less than “actual” market value. This is because of element of two components of market value i.e. Recorded and Unrecorded parts. There is also another aspect i.e. potential of future benefit. This is never considered. There is a linkage with present returns only. The potential benefits of future always prove profitable for acquiring authority if the development is done in phases.

The L A Act was modified in the year 1987 and the compensation payable is now “Market Value” and the interest rate is 12 percent. The procedures and the formalities were rationalized and a stringent time limit was introduced. The revised provisions have put considerable constraints on agencies acquiring lands under this Act. It is however rather early to assess the impact of these changes as compared to the performance in the past.

LAND ACQUISITION UNDER MAHARASHTRA REGIONAL AND TOWN PLANNING ACT (MRTP ACT)

The MRTP Act provides for acquisition of lands for the implementation of proposals framed under a sanctioned Development Plan. As such, the Act is not used primarily to acquire lands for housing except for “housing for the dis-housed” due to any proposals under a Development Plan.

The formulation of Town Planning Schemes under the MRTP Act 1966 is conceptually an ideal tool for securing development of land at minimal cost to the local authorities. The Town Planning Schemes are prepared for the implementation of Development Plans. The Scheme uses the technique of “land readjustment” and helps to bring large areas of services land in the land market which can then be used primarily for housing. Hence it would be appropriate to study the impact of Town Planning Schemes in the state even if there is no direct acquisition of land for residential use.

The underlying principle of a TP Schemes is to bring about integrated and comprehensive development and provide for regular shaped and holdings and to improve efficiency of landuse and to provide for a proper circulation pattern. Provision of services lead to early development of lands and also effectively transfers the burden of development cost on the land owners.

In Maharashtra, more than 96 T.P. schemes have been prepared and sanctioned. These schemes cover an area over 6000 Ha. and provide Housing sites for over 15 lakh population. The standard of development in these schemes is good with provision of proper physical and social infrastructure. This unique development mechanism is time tested and supported in Courts of Law and positively responded to by the landowners.

Even though the TP Schemes helped in bringing into the market, serviced land for development, a major drawback of the scheme is the inordinately long time taken for finalization and the consequent increases in the cost of the schemes. Table No.15 and 16 indicate the details of the TP Schemes in the state.

It can be seen that the time taken to finalize TP Schemes is very long. It is, therefore, necessary to review the procedure and provisions in the Act to cut short the time. It is also necessary to have effective guidelines for Arbitrators who are responsible for drawing up Final Schemes and allotment of final plots with equitable treatment to all the land owners. Similarly, proper guidelines are necessary for rehabilitation of tenants on the properties and dealing with encroachments; for a smoother implementation of the schemes. The procedure of recovery of cost of infra structure needs to be rationalized to reduce problems in arbitration about value of Original and Final plots including incremental value and accordingly adjustment of areas of Final Plot.

In Gujarat for example, 10 per cent of the area of the scheme is acquired by the local authorities for being sold after the development of the scheme for residential/commercial purpose for raising resources. This model is working effectively and can be replicated elsewhere.

LAND ACQUISITION UNDER URBAN LAND (CEILING AND REGULATION) ACT 1976 (ULC ACT)

Only 9 urban agglomerations in the state are affected by the Act. These are ,Bombay, Thane, Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Aurangabad, Nasik and Nagpur.

The National Commission on Urbanization has assessed the impact of ULC Act in the country. In its report it has indicated that out of 166192 Ha. of land estimated as vacant surplus land only 14589 Ha. i.e. 8.78 percent is vested in the state Governments and only 3852 Ha. i.e. 2.32 percent is in actual possession of the state Governments of this only 621 Ha. i.e. 0.37 percent has been actually used for construction of houses by the state governments.

It has also been observed that the biggest setback to the implementation of the ULC Act is the exemptions permitted under section 20 and 21 of the Act. The powers available for exceptional and unforeseen circumstances have been used very liberally and rather indiscriminately. This is illustrated by the fact that an area of 40418 Ha. has been exempted under section 20 covering 44201 cases. The Government of Maharashtra has evolved a scheme for building houses for EWS under section 20. However its success is yet to be assessed. It has already been diluted by a subsequent formula of 60:40 wherein it is possible for the land owner to surrender only 60 percent land to Government for weaker sections and use remaining 40 percent land for construction of flats for sale in the open market.

It is concluded by NCU that administrative laxity coupled with an absence of strong political will has made the ULC Act ineffective to a large extent. The Act itself lays down certain statutory time limits. In addition, there are administrative delays. Monitoring has been extremely weak so also the progress of taking over surplus land. Unless there is a change in the attitude and strong commitment by all concerned it is difficult to achieve progress in implementation of such a social legislation.

The position of implementation of the Act in Maharashtra is as follows:

The state has nine urban agglomerations where ULC Act has been made applicable. The details about the number of cases filed, scrutinized, lands declared surplus and lands acquired are given in the Table No.26.Provisions under section 21 which were intended to promote low income housing have had little impact. At the National level, only 2028 schemes involving 3445 Ha. of land providing for about 2,80,000 dwelling units were approved till May 1986. Maharashtra’s share was substantial with 1015 Ha. of land and 116702 dwelling units of average area of 80 Sq.m. and gross density of 115 DU per Ha.

It can be seen that only about 450 Ha. of land could become available in the state for use in the last ten years under ULC Act. The figure is for nine urban agglomerations. The area of land taken over works out to 5 Ha. per city per year! This is a very disappointing result indicating that the efforts of the entire administrative machinery have been a total waste and very little land was made available for housing which was the main objective of the Act. A comparison between cities requirements for housing and lands affected by ULC Act is given in the Table No.25.

IMPACT OF LAND UNDER SLUMS IN CLASS I CITIES IN MAHARASHTRA

The unprecedented growth of urban areas in the sixties and seventies resulted in creation of slums due to the gap in demand and supply of AFFORDABLE housing stock in the market merely due to non availability of land at affordable prices. Unauthorized settlements mushroomed on vacant lands without proper planning, infrastructure, or statutory approvals. Now, over 40% of the population in the cities is residing in such unauthorized settlements.

Almost 20 percent of the land in these urban areas is occupied by slums. Considering that land under residential user in a city is 40 to 50 percent of the total area, the area under slums is quite substantial. It will be necessary to provide for the redevelopment of these slum areas while planning for the growth of urban centres. About 20 to 30 percent of land under residential user need to put to use for special residential zone for EWS and LIG categories to reduce the growth of slums. Similarly the role of different agencies in development of land under these residential zones needs to be decided. Only then it will be possible to decide about regulations and monitoring of the land market.

In Bombay, the percentage of population in slum areas is half of the total population. Here slum redevelopment is proposed with grant of extra FSI and Density i.e. by increase in development potential of the land occupied by slums. This solution may not be found suitable and/or acceptable in other cities where multistoreyed residential development is not popular and acceptable. Grant of tenure of land occupied can be the only solution in towns other than Bombay and Pune.

Slum Improvement works are carried out as per the provisions of Maharashtra Slum Areas Act 1971. The Act provides for powers of acquisition of land. The procedure is simple as compared to the Land Acquisition Act. The compensation payable for acquisition of land is different than that under LA Act. It is equal to 60 times the average monthly returns for the past five consecutive years. However, actual acquisition cases under the Act have been rare and details are not readily available for study in the form of statistical data.

Recently i.e. in March 1991 the Development Control Regulations for Greater Bombay were sanctioned by the state Government. These allow rehabilitation or redevelopment of slum areas with a Floor Space Index upto 2.5. Certain guidelines about size of tenements, etc. have been included in the regulations. The land owners and cooperatives of slum dwellers are eligible to prepare such development proposals. Such schemes are still under preparation and their impact can be studied only after a sizeable work has been done.

PERFORMANCE OF MHADA(MAHARASHTRA HOUSING AND AREA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY)

MHADA was established as per the provisions of MHADA Act 1976 on 5th

December 1977 by merging all the erstwhile state organizations working in the shelter sector. The main objective of setting-up of MHADA is to have coordination of all the activities in shelter sector namely, construction of new dwelling units, repairs to old and dilapidated buildings in the island city of Bombay, reconstruction of old buildings which are beyond economical repairs and slum improvement activities. Out of these activities, the activity of construction of new dwelling units require vacant land while other activities deal with existing structures and population. For this purpose MHADA is empowered to acquire lands under MHADA Act 1976.

LAND ACQUISITION UNDER MHADA ACT

The MHADA Act 1976 provides for powers to acquire lands for the purposes mentioned in sections 40 to 45 of the Act. The procedure for acquisition has been simplified as compared to the provisions of Land Acquisition Act. Under the provisions of this Act, a preliminary notice is issued indicating the land selected for acquisition. The land owner is asked to file his suggestions/objections within 30 days of the preliminary notice. A hearing is then given to landowners and a report is submitted to the state government. Thereafter the final notice is issued and the land is then vested in the state Government. Thus, it is possible to take over possession of land before payment of the compensation for the land. The compensation payable is also different for lands situated in urban areas and lands outside municipal limits. The compensation is to be paid at 100 times the monthly returns from the land received on average basis in the last five years for lands situated in urban areas. The compensation payable for lands outside municipal limits is as per provisions of Land Acquisition Act. The provisions of this Act have been challenged in the court of law and have stood the test even in Supreme Court. Extracts of the relevant sections of the Act are enclosed in Annexure I.

Inspite of these enabling provisions for early and simplified procedure of notifying, taking over the allowing the authority to put the land to use as compared to the procedures under the LA Act; it has not been possible to use the Act effective duet o various court cases. The details of the progress of land acquisition under MHADA Act are given in Table No.8.

In order to reduce hurdles in the acquisition of land under MHADA Act the state Govt. has devised and has been operating a policy of partial acquisition. It is now a practice to take over only 60% of the notified land and release the balance40% to the owner. This practice has found general acceptance with many land owners, though their number vary from town to town and case to case.

However, acquisition of land in part creates a number of problems in land development. A major problem being non-availability of access, difficulties in provision of infrastructural services, protection of land, efficiency of layout etc. This naturally increases cost of laying services, cost of plots and cost of project planning and implementation etc.

The policy of part acquisition of land could be integrated with kind of land pooling system. Presently, no proper legislative framework is available for land pooling or readjustment system except under the Town Planning Schemes under the MRTP Act. This aspect needs to be considered seriously if the part acquisition policy is to be successful. This may help in enhancing layout efficiency and may encourage landowners to participate in the development programme rather than merely getting 40% of their land released from acquisition.

The details of acquisition under MHADA Act indicated in the Table No.8 reveal that hardly 21.57% of land out of the total notified land was finally acquired. Thus, the efforts involved in land acquisition do not justify the results. There have been very few large project areas and proposals where 100% of the notified land was finally acquired.

It can be seen though the target for acquisition (for Seventh Five Year Plan period) was 1200 Ha only, the land identified for procurement is 5050.20 Ha. i.e. more than four times the target. Yet, only 12.12% of identified land could come in actual possession of MHADA, though this figure forms 51% of the target 1200 Ha. for the Seventh Five Year Plan period.

It is interesting to note that though about 891.32 Ha. of land was available to MHADA (including land procured during seventh plan period) 260.16 Ha. or 29.19% of the land could not be put to use for various reasons. The details are explained in the Table No.9.

MHADA operates in a number of cities and there are no large sized project areas except where it is acting as a Special Planning Authority. Lands are acquired in small pockets and are spread over various parts of the cities. Therefore, there are problems of having access, infrastructure, that of planning implementation and costing. This does affect the quality of life in the housing projects implemented by MHADA. Due to the small size of the project it becomes very difficult to provide social facilities and there are severe limitations in differential pricing and cross subsidization. The impact of MHADA’s projects in different cities as against the total housing requirements of the city is brought out in Table No.10 & 11.

It can be concluded that the area of land notified for acquisition by the MHADA is hardly 16.03% of the decadal requirement for housing in all class I cities put together. Apparently there is no relationship between the housing target for a city or the state with the area of land notified for acquisition. Moreover the land actually taken possession of is much less than the target, the percentage works out to only 21.57% of total notified land in the last decade. This means that the land actually acquired by MHADA would cater to only about 5% of the requirement of a city for the decade for housing.

PERFORMANCE OF CIDCO(CITY AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF MAHARASHTRA LIMITED)

CIDCO was established by the Government of Maharashtra as a public limited company on 17th March 1970 primarily for the purposes of planning and development of New Bombay. This was done as per recommendations of the Regional Plan for Bombay Metropolitan Region. It was designated as a New Town Development Authority for New Bombay under the MRTP Act 1966 to reduce the growth of population of Greater Bombay by absorbing immigrants and by attracting some of Bombay’s present population.

The Development Plan for New Bombay was prepared in 1975 and it was sanctioned by the Government of Maharashtra in 1979. The land use details of the New Bombay project are given in Table 12.

It can be seen from Table 11 that, out of total notified land for the New Bombay project about 30% of land belonged to the Government of Maharashtra, 9% belonged to Government of India (mostly salt pan lands) and about 50% was under private ownership. The entire land was notified for acquisition by CIDCO.

CIDCO made a number of efforts for the successful acquisition of about 14000 Ha. of land till March 1991. CIDCO pursued the acquisition proceedings after taking a decision for bulk acquisition to ensure planned development. CIDCO also tried to persuade landowners to surrender their lands voluntarily, undertook number of schemes and training programmes in various trades for the project affected persons and had schemes of grant of part of acquired land back to original land owners for their rehabilitation and livelihood. Thus, the process of land acquisition for development of housing in particular and for development of a city in a general was not restricted to just identification, notification and there after compulsory take over the utilisation of land by merely following the process of law but it was a complete programme of development of the area with due respect of the needs of original landowners. It makes this acquisition programme a unique case as compared to other cases by MHADA or other development authorities. The programme of rehabilitation was evolved after continuous dialogue during process of acquisition and proper and sufficient thought was given to problems of the land owners whose land were notified for acquisition. After notification of large areas of lands for acquisition for development of the New City and especially for development of Navha Sheva Port the landowners showed lot of resistance

about acquisition of entire land, the amount of compensation being offered and about differential treatment given to different groups of landowners. The issue was not restricted to dialogue between the officials of CIDCO and GOM and the landowners but Peoples Representatives and MLAs and MLCs as also Ministers tgovt involved due to stiff resistance and police actions. The issue got debated in the state legislature and the scheme of compensation were reviewed. The GOM had to agree to pay ad-hoc payments and ex-gratia payments.

CIDCO gave sufficient emphasis on the needs of the people in the area as a part of the development process. It assisted in Technical Training of persons in appropriate age group within the area for future and better employment opportunities. It helped them in job placements in the project area as well as areas immediately on the periphery of the project area. It also helped the people through its own employment policy like recruiting staff for its nurseries, transport services, offices and offering contracts for gardening, earth filling, small bunding, etc. It helped CIDCO in creating a goodwill in the project area and at the same time provided real help to the needy persons and reduced their resistance.

CIDCO had earlier devised a scheme called “Gaothan Expansion Scheme” under which an original land owner was to be given a plot of land upto 500 sq.m. on the periphery of existing “gaothans” with some rudimentary level of infrastructure. The scheme was applicable to all land owners whose lands were acquired and also to landless labourers. The scheme was approved by the GOM in 1978. However, due to stiff resistance during acquisition of land at one of the villages namely Uran, another scheme was devised wherein there was no ceiling limit for grant of properly developed plot of land except that it had to be at least 12.5% or original area acquired. Its locational choice was also left to the project affected persons. This scheme was made applicable to those landowners whose lands were acquired after 6th December 1986 or who had refused compensation till that date. No formal approval to the scheme was granted by the GOM. Total area under the scheme was to the tune of abut 700 Ha. This reduced the resistance and the project implementation ran smoothly thereafter. This can also be considered as one of the important lessons for CIDCO in its bulk acquisition programme.

Probably, with the experience in New Bombay and after considering the current socio-economic and political thinking and the Government policies the CIDCO has changed its strategies while preparing the Development Plans for its new activity areas of Vasai-Virar Sub Region immediately outside Greater Bombay on Northern side and also at Waluj near Auranagabad. Here the emphasis is on people’s or rater owners’ participation through part acquisition and also by introduction of the concept of accommodation reservations as adopted in the Development Plan for Bombay.

CIDCO has constructed 65,048 Dwelling Units as of 1989. The achievements of CIDCO are within a span of 10 years i.e. from 1979 to 1989. The average achievement has been the development of about 1864 Ha. of land and construction of 6,504 Dwelling Units per annum. This achievement need to be considered against the requirement of construction of dwelling units for the growing population in Greater Bombay; shown in Table No.13.

Against a total requirement of housing between 1961 to 2001 i.e. during 40 years the actual construction by all sectors is only 23.57% of the requirement. Of this, the share of the public sector i.e. BHADB and CIDCO together is only 37.28%. The rest i.e. about 63% being by private, cooperative and other agencies.

CIDCO’S ROLE OUTSIDE THE BOMBAY METROPOLITAN REGION

CIDCO was also entrusted Projects to develop New Townships near Nashik, Aurangabad and Nanded. The performance in these projects is given in Table No.14. It can be seen that CIDCO has been able to make a sizable impact in cities of Nashik and Nanded. In Aurangabad the impact is a little less however it has identified another activity area of Waluj admeasuring about 16000 Ha.

CIDCO functions as a New Town Development Authority under the MRTP Act and follows the procedures of acquisition of entire notified lands identified for development of New Townships near existing Towns. The acquisition is carried out under LA Act/MRTP Act. Under LA Act the

procedure of acquisition and the amount payable for acquisition are expressly laid down in the Act. There appear

to be less problems in acquisition under LA Act as compared to MHADA Act. CIDCO has been able to acquire almost 100 percent of the notified lands as compared to MHADA which was able to acquire only abut 21.57% of the notified land.

Modifications to the Land Acquisition Act in the year 1987 created a number of problems for CIDCO. It had to re-notify certain lands and also faced a resource crunch as payments were required to be arranged in a short time. It had to raise the resources from HUDCO and other sources at high interest rates. However the firm commitment and involvement of its officers and support received from the management led to a successful acquisition on such a large scale.

CIDCO has another advantage that is of large project areas at one location. Hence its impact on the housing situation in the selected cities is easily perceivable. Such large project areas facilitate provision of social and physical infrastructure which helps in enhancing the quality of life in the housing projects.

Large project areas also help in achieving proper mix of income groups and use of the development potential of land efficiently in terms of FSI (Floor Space Index) and Density.

In terms of costing of the land and dwelling units also, the large area of the project facilitate differential pricing as per income group distribution and type of housing i.e. Serviced Plots, Core Housing, Row housing and Flats in multistoried buildings, etc. The burdon of “Off Site” and “On Site” infrastructure can be distributed evenly. Proper landuse classification and its distribution helps in achieving differential costing in various phases. This aspect therefore plays an important part in the procurement of land for Housing.

NEED FOR LAND MANAGEMENT IN URBAN CENTRES

The total urban population of the state is 304.96 lakhs (1991) located in 336 urban centres. Its break-up is given in Table No.20. Based on these figures, the requirement of serviced land for residential purpose can be worked out. It is assumed that these requirements would be at the same rate for growth upto 2001. Hence comparison of these requirements with actual performance by various public and private agencies will help in highlighting the shortcomings and the factors responsible for the situation. On similar basis the achievements of public and private agencies are compared with requirements for the selected cities.

Housing is essentially a local subject and depends on the situation at the city level. In the state’s five year plans, emphasis is given on numbers and the targets are fixed on statewide basis. Such fixing targets on global basis does not help in creating an impact either at state level or at city level. This is more so, as the variation in requirements is large from city to city. Greater Bombay and Pune, Nagpur account for over 60% of urban population and all class I towns cover about 75% of the population. Hence any effort in urban areas other than these is not likely to make a dent in the situation in a positive manner. On the other hand acquisition of land in these bigger cities is more problematic than other towns.The acquisition of land is undertaken at the request of different public agencies. These agencies prepare their plan of action on their own and not necessarily based on requirements of the various towns. These plans do not consider the growth perspective of the town concerned for a particular period, but are dictated by the resources available and organizational capacity to implement projects.

The present legislation covers only the procedure for taking over the identified land but does not cover Planning procedure and the control over the land market. There are laws to regulate the holding, using and collection of revenue for use and share in unearned income on sale, etc. However there is no legislation to make available land in the market and to stop hoarding of vacant land for speculative purposes. Such controls be created by the public agencies through their activities. In actual practice however these authorities have been acting merely as public sector Real Estate developers and not as Monitors of the total situation. There is therefore an urgent need to set up an agency to look after the functions of monitoring the land market and creating and regulating the supply as a reasonable response to the situation.

The NCU has recommended setting up of Settlement survey of India to carry out scientific surveys of land and to classify and suggest the most appropriate uses for different types of land. Under the Settlement Survey of India it is recommended to set up separate Directorate of Urban Land Records to carry out detailed city surveys and prepare filed books, maps, etc. Its database is expected to be principal input in city land-use planning. It will then be possible to diversity the demographic growth based on availability of land at proper rate ad d affordable prices. The NCU has further recommended to organize City Govt. on suggested guidelines and the chief executive of local authority has been recommended to be designated as Land Manager. Thus there are sufficient studies and proposal available for adoption.

The situation in class I towns can be compared with that of entire state. The share of other cities is negligible and can even be ignored for the purposes of this study

and for formulation of policies and strategies for making adequate serviced land available for housing.

It can be observed that almost 10 percent of the present area of the urban centres is required to be added every year for the growth of population at the growth rate for the decade 1971-81. Considering that land under residential user is 30 to 50 percent of the total area of the town, it will be necessary to almost double the area of an urban centre after every two decades! It is necessary to determine the role of different agencies in development of such lands under residential user, only then will it be possible to decide abut the rate and quantum of acquisition of land to regulate and monitor the land market.

LAND MANAGEMENT THROUGH NEW DEVELOPMENT CONTROL REGULATIONS FOR GREATER BOMBAY

In March 1991 the Government of Maharashtra sanctioned D.C. Regulations for Greater Bombay. These regulations incorporate new concepts of ACCOMMODATION RESERVATIONS and TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS. These concepts have been evolved due to the difficulties faced in acquisition of land for various public purposes.

It is a well known fact that the market price for land has two components, the recorded and the unrecorded. The proportion varies due to various factors like use, location, area or size of holding, availability of access and surrounding development, etc. In case of acquisition of land by public agencies under different statutes the amount to be paid in lieu of acquisition of land is determined on the basis of recorded transactions. Hence it is never exactly as per actual market price. The different in the actual market value and determined market value encourages land owners to enter into litigation and this frustrates the efforts of acquiring agencies. In order to overcome this problem to a considerable extent the concept of TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS has been devised.

In short, the compensation payable for the acquisition of land has been transformed from payment in monetary terms to use of its development potential elsewhere by allotting additional built up area so as to enable the landowner to sell the built up area at actual market price and not at recorded price paid for land. There are certain conditions and the concessions are available for certain types of reservations only. The concept has been introduced recently and its success is yet to be assessed.

The concept of ACCOMMODATION RESERVATION allows the landowner to utilize the full potential of land for residential use if he makes the designated facility available free of cost to the city. In the new concept it is proposed to have mixed user development wherein certain social facilities may have to be mixed with residential user. Thus additional floor space is now made available for housing on lands where there are

Development Plan proposals for social amenities like library, health centre, social welfare centre, parking etc.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON URBANISATION

The National Commission on Urbanisation having looked into various facets of urbanization has made various recommendations. Land being one of the important aspects in urbanisation the commission has observed that;:possibly the most disastrous feature of the past four decades of urbanization in India has been our tragic failure to anticipate the rising demand for urban land and thus be able to ensure an adequate supply at affordable prices. In this the worst sufferers have, of course been the urban poor.”

It has been observed that the growth of urban areas has never been matched by appropriate interventions to ensure availability of land at the right time, place and price. The results have been catastrophic. Land has become an extremely scarce and expensive commodity, with a total mis-match between people’s income and land pries. Household savings have had to be diverted from other critical uses to meet the most modest shelter needs.

The Main Recommendations of the Commission about land are:

Supply of land should be given priority. Requirement of land for shelter or urban poor be assessed and

provided for. Various forms of land assembly be encouraged. Legislation like LA Act, ULC Act, etc. must be modified. Land must be treated as a RESOURCE. Vacant land in urban areas be taxed. Optimum utilization of land to be ensured.

Thus adequate attention has been given to this important issue of Procurement of land for housing.

IMPORTANT CONTENTS OF NATIONAL HOUSING POLICY

In the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless 1987, the Government of India prepared and published the Draft National Housing Policy (NHP) finalized in 1988. This was subsequently further modified in 1989. One of the main objectives of NHP is “To create an enabling

environment by eliminating constraints and developing an efficient and accessible system for the delivery of inputs to maximize housing efforts.”

It has devoted a full chapter to the subject of LAND. To achieve equitable distribution of land, necessary measures were proposed to be taken to formulate and implement an effective land policy. It was proposed to rationalize and

simplify the existing legislative provisions and procedures related to acquisition of land to speed up acquisition of land. It was also suggested that a proper inventory system for urban land be established as part of a land information system A system of incentives and disincentives to promote rational utilization of unutilized and vacant land in urban areas was also expected to be devised as part of various actions to be initiated by the Government.

However, even after a lapse of four years since the Policy was announced no action in this regard appears to have been initiated either by the Central Government or by the State Government.

IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS OF GLOBAL SHELTER STRATEGY

The General Assembly of United Nations suggested that the Commission on Human Settlements should formulate a Global Shelter Strategy to help all the nations to formulate plans of actions depending upon local needs and situations.

It has made a number of suggestions regarding management of land for shelter. Land has been identified as a basic physical resource along with infrastructure. Various options have been suggested for different administrative structure for land management in various countries. The Indian situation is a little peculiar. Here exists a mix of different land tenures. It may therefore be necessary to use a number of options in different situations within a city as well as a state. However there has to be greater emphasis on informal supply of land for shelter.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:

Maharashtra is the most urbanized state in the country. It has enacted some of the very progressive laws relating to various activities in housing an Durban development sector. It has three major organizations working in the housing sector namely The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), The City and Industrial Development Corporation Limited (CIDCO) and The Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT). Their activities form a major part of the state’s housing and urban development activities. The Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils mostly under take Slum Improvement and slum Upgradation works under the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971 and contribute substantially to the activity in the shelter sector.

All these organizations need land for their activities. The procurement of land is a major hurdle in undertaking housing programmes. These organizations, for the purpose of land procurement mainly take recourse to the MHADA Act, LA Act, ULC Act, the MRTP Act and the Municipal Acts.

The MHADA Act, 1976, has three important features, i.e. simplified procedure, fixed rate of compensation and early possession of land even before actual payment of compensation. Though the At has withstood the test even at the Supreme Court legal it still leads to a number of litigations for different reasons and the MHADA has not achieved the desired success in securing lands under this Act.

The Land Acquisition Act 1894 has been put to test and modified a number of times. Recent modifications have provided for a time bound programme for the acquisition and payment of interest on compensation at a higher level. However, the basic procedure has not been changed. It may be worthwhile, to review the procedure to shorten the time taken for acquisition and actual possession of land.

The ULC Act 1976 has, instead of facilitating, become a major hurdle in making land available in the market and has also slowed the pace of acquisition under other Acts. A review of the Act is under active consideration and few suggestions are accordingly made later in this chapter.

The Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971, empowers the local authorities to deal with slum improvement and upgradation activities. It is necessary to review this Act as about 25 to 50 percent of the urban population is expected to be living in slums. Hence the issue is quite important. Some modifications are hence suggested in the provisions of this Act.

The Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, and the Municipal Acts affect the procedure for the development permissions. Timely receipt of various permissions is one of the main hurdle in the housing activity and as such few suggestions for modifications to these Acts are made later in this chapter.

Most of these Acts have been in force for more than one or two decades and so are the various public authorities. It is therefore necessary to assess the performance of both. An appraisal of the targets and achievements of these organizations during the past five year plans indicate that, till the seventh five year plan adequate consideration was not given to the assessment of requirement of shelter within the state. For the seventh five year plan such assessment was made and targets were fixed for activities by different agencies in the shelter sector. The break up of the Targets is as follows:

Total estimated requirements 8.75 lakh Dwelling Units

To be met as follows:

PUBLIC SECTORMHADA 1.30 lakh Dwelling Units

BMRDA 1.00 lakh Dwelling UnitsCIDCO 1.00 lakh Dwelling UnitsNIT 0.10 lakh Dwelling UnitsMIDC/OTHER AGENCEIS 0.10 lakh Dwelling Units

PRIVATE SECTORAND CO-OPERATIVES 5.25 lakh Dwelling Units

These Targets were fixed at the State level and not on citywise basis. Towns and cities should actually be the units for undertaking housing activities. Only then can achievements be compared to the targets, with particular reference to actual procurement of land to meet the objectives of the plans and the programmes.

This makes it necessary to constantly monitor the activities with relation to the fixed targets. This need to be done by an agency at the city level than at state level. A review of the overall performance at state level has little relevance as more than 70 percent of the target achievement depends on the private and co-operative sector. It is therefore necessary to have a monitoring agency for housing activity at the city level.

One of the main problems of activities of various public agencies is the coordination and interrelationship with each other. Each agency sets out target for itself but does not relate with those of other agencies e.g. MSEB grants connections to number of households in different parts of the state as per its target but not necessarily to the houses built by MHADA. Secondly, the achievements by public agencies may not be commensurate with the requirements in each city e.g. MHADA may have achieved the overall numerical targets in the state but the distribution in different cities may not be in proportion to their requirements and the result may be that some dwelling units may remain unallotted for want of demand while at some locations there may be a long waiting list! Hence a city or a town needs to be taken as a unit for fixing targets, at least for the housing activity.

The ULC Act has now been in operation for over a decade. Yet receipt of surplus land or grant of exemption for housing schemes has not been in proportion to the requirement of a city. In fact there is o interrelationship in achievements and the targets. Some policy guidelines need to be devised for proper implementation of the Act.

Similarly, there is no mechanism to regulate the activities of the municipal bodies regarding grant of development permissions with specific reference to the targets. Hence, the ultimate result is that the house construction activity depends more on the speculators than on professional developers.

The study on procurement of land for housing cannot thus be restricted to the aspects pertaining only to land and legislation related to procurement; but has to consider the related aspects of provision of infrastructure and socio-political philosophy affecting demand and supply of land and dwelling units as compared to requirements. In view

of these observations based on the foregoing study; following suggestions are made.

SUGGESTIONS:

The suggestions can be classified broadly as relating to:

1. Policy changes by State Government.2. Modifications in various statutes.3. Role of Public Agencies.4. Innovative systems of planning and implementation.

Policy Changes:

Changes in method of fixing housing targets.

Housing is essentially a local level activity. The situation differs from city to city. Therefore, it is essential to accept city as a unit for fixing targets. Alternatively, guidelines need to be issued to fix activity centres and targets by different public agencies. State level targets may not necessarily create a desired impact on the housing situation in the state. Requirements of shelter in a city depend upon the rate and quantum of growth of the city. Hence even if population of two cities is same the requirements need not necessarily be the same. The strategies to meet the requirement may also differ from city to city. The targets for the shelter programmes should be fixed citywise on proportional basis and for specific income groups so as to have a definite impact on the housing situation. This can also help in the preparation of action plans for the cities as well as for the organization for its activities in the state.

Setting up a Monitoring Agency for Housing Activities.

There should be a monitoring agency for the housing activity in a city. The Local Authority is generally the planning authority under Town Planning Act. Hence it could be the monitoring agency for housing also. This agency should assess the growth of the city i.e. the rate, quantum and directions or locations of growing areas. It should then make efforts to assess the availability and requirement of land for housing through various agencies. In case the activity of these agencies are not commensurate with the requirements, then its should take an initiative n deciding actins like framing Town Planning Schemes, Area Development Schemes or simply acquisition of land for provision of shelter. If necessary it an take help from organizations like Town Planning Dept. or MHADA or CIDCO for this purpose. The appropriate line of action will depend upon the type of land ownership, extent of land requirement, source of funds available or required etc. In the case

of cities where Urban Land Ceiling Act has been made applicable the strategy could be different.

At present the cases about surplus land are dealt without relevance to the location and area of surplus land. This results in taking over surplus land in any corner of the city with or without potential for immediate development. Hence the public authorities find it difficult to put such land to use immediately. Similarly, the schemes under section 20 or 1 of ULC Act were also sanctioned without considering the location or quantum of the land area likely to be available Hence it was not possible for land owners to develop the lands within the time lime prescribed and the provisions could not be fruitfully utilized to ease situation in shelter sector. It is therefore suggested that there should be involvement of local authority in deciding sanction of section 20/21 schemes as a monitoring agency for housing. The number of schemes or rather the number of tenements under these schemes should be the criteria for sanction of the schemes in a year so that the market is regulated on the basis of growth rate. No modifications in present legal framework appear necessary for this purpose. Only Policy and Strategy changes could be sufficient for this purpose. Similarly, the allotment of surplus land to

public agencies should be decided on these lines. It will then be possible to make a proper impact on the situation in a city. Land owners whose lands have no immediate development potential can continue to use the land for agricultural purposes and may not be immediately affected even if the land is situated within the limits of urban agglomeration. Thus the legislation of ULC can be used effectively than at present. Unnecessary hasty actions by landowners can thus be regulated.

In the land market there are number of actors in the field. They are Landowners, Speculators, Builders, Developers and Members of Cooperative Societies which have bought lands for the use by members in future. The monitoring agency for housing should make an assessment of activities of all such actors in its city and decide strategies for actions.

Data compiled by NBO National Buildings Organization) about the issue of building permissions do not indicate details about the area of land put to use. Hence it is difficult to assess the area of land made available by the private sector.

The agency should assess the housing situation in the city, decide its housing requirement on short as well as long term basis, decide its targets for housing and then take necessary steps to work towards achieving these targets. These targets should then be compiled to form state level targets.

Changes in monitoring system at State Level

In the state plan the housing activities be separated for the purpose of compilation of data. The targets should be fixed for following aspects.

(a)Permissions for development for number of dwelling units and regularization of number of developments already carried out. Action by Municipal Authorities and development Authorities.

(b)Permissions for subdivision of land within municipal areas whereby it shall be possible to monitor availability of small size plots.

(c) Building Completion Certificates for number of dwelling units for the permissions granted earlier so as to have effective role of local authority in completion of projects. The Acts i.e. Maharashtra Municipalities Act 1965 or other Municipal acts as well as MRTP Act 1966 and or MHADA Act 1976, NIT Act may have to be suitably amended to take over projects of private developers and or land owners lying incomplete beyond stipulated period for any reason.

(d)Number of dwelling units covered under grant of tenure under SUP and other redevelopment or relocation projects. Presently such target is linked with Govt. Funds and not covered for slums on private lands.

(e)Land area converted for Non Agricultural users within the Municipal areas.

Vacant Land Tax:

A system of taxing vacant land in municipal areas needs to be introduced based on notional valuation of the “property” that can be created on such a vacant plot. The tax should be increased at a compounded rate every year, so that there will be economic pressure on the owner to develop the plot.

Capital Gains on Land to be shared with Local Authority.

The capital gains tax presently accrues to the income tax department despite the fact that it is the city’s level of infrastructure and services which lead to appreciation in the value of land. A system should be evolved whereby a sum equivalent to the capital gains tax on land becomes payable by the owner of the land to the local municipal authority.

Role of Public Housing AgenciesIdentification of Activity Centres for Public Agencies.

The activity centres for different public agencies like MHADA, CIDCO etc need to be predetermined to avoid duplication of efforts particularly in urban areas. The efforts of these agencies should be complementary to each other and not competitive. The housing activity by the private and public sectors need to helped with proper legislative, and administrative support. At present the efforts made by non-Governmental agencies are

not properly assessed and are only being regulated. The effort of cooperatives and that of private builders need to be property channelised towards the healthy growth pattern for the city as a whole.

Modifications to existing Statutes.

Modifications to the MRTP Act 1966 can be considered to improve the performance of activities undertaken as per provisions of this Act.

(a)A procedure similar to MHADA Act 1976 or BMRDA Act 1974 can be considered wherein it is possible to take over possession of land before payment of compensation. Early possession of land would help in carrying out development works at an early date.

(b)The procedure for preparation of Town Planning Scheme as per provisions of MRTP Act 1966, procedure of dealing with issue of original and expected incremental values of lands in the scheme and their implementation need to be simplified. Sharing of areas that can only be developed by the local authority can be facilitated by compulsory sharing of land within the Scheme area. This will reduce the major hurdle in the implementation of the schemes i.e. Working out the valuation of land and consequent arbitration for the same.

(c) The development of new towns needs to be promoted as joint sector projects where the land owners will be able to participate. Suitable modifications in relevant provisions of the acts can be considered.

(d)The Development Control Regulations need to be modified to provide for smaller subdivision of land, Accommodation Reservations for most of the social facilities and to offer Transferable Development Rights (TDR) as allowed incase of Greater Bombay.

The Government of Maharashtra has already issued necessary directions to incorporate these concepts in the Development Control Regulations of other Class I cities in the state.

(e)The system of part acquisition needs to be provided within the framework of the Act so as to make it possible to undertake a scheme of land pooling and readjustment for mutual benefit of the local authorities and the land owners.

(f) A provision to vest the land under Development Plan roads in the local authority immediately after sanction of Development Plan needs to be incorporated in the act. This will save time spent in acquisition of land required for roads. This I necessary as the area under roads is also used for services like water supply lines, sewerage lines, etc. This

may also save land going supply lines, sewerage lines, etc. This may also save land going under H.T. lines which are laid under Indian Electricity Act and in absence of proper guidelines and availability of proper right of way before development takes place the HT lines are not laid along future alignment of roads and thereby consume lot of valuable urban land. Shifting of lines already laid proves an expensive proposition and hence such lands remain neglected and prone to encroachments. Hence, the provision to vest land under roads in local authority will reduce some of these problems.

The compensation for such acquisition can immediately be granted on surrendering the separate Property Registration Card (PR Card) and other documents in the form of TDR. It can thus face less resistance from land owners.

Modifications to MHADA Act 1976for following aspects can be considered.

(a)The compensation payable for acquisition in cities affected by ULC Act and other cities can be different. It may then be possible to negotiate with land owners properly.

(b)The system of part acquisition needs to be provided within the framework of the act also as to make it possible to under the scheme of land pooling or readjustment for mutual benefit of MHADA and the landowners.

(c) Necessary provisions for regulating land development need to be considered wherein it should be possible to notify the lands for acquisition after a stipulated period if the land owner does not develop the lands within that period. This would ensure that sufficient developable land is made available.

Modifications to MSA Act 1971for following aspects be considered.

(a)The protection under the Act be linked with Development Plan proposals. The shifting or relocation for purposes of implementation of DP proposals should be obligatory.

(b)The participation under Slum Upgradation Programme (SUP) should be made compulsory if such projects are undertaken by concerned authority. The protection under the Act should automatically stand withdrawn n case of refusal to join rehabilitation schemes.

(c) The protection under the Act should automatically stand withdrawn if taxes, services charges, etc. are not paid consecutively for a period of six months.

Modifications in Municipal Acts in force,For following aspects can be considered.

(a)Grant of development permission be allowed if DP road is proposed on a land but it has not been constructed so far, as it is suggested to modify MRTP Act 1966 to vest the land under proposed DP roads in Govt. after the DP is sanctioned without waiting for acquisition proceedings.

(b)Development permissions can be granted even if infrastructural services are not made available by the local authority in lands included in Residential Zone. In such cases upgradable type of services be allowed. However, certain guidelines and terms and conditions need to be devised for this purpose. These could be part of Development Control Regulations.

Innovative systems of planning and implementation.

Transfer of Development Rights

The concept of TDR has been recently introduced in the Development control regulations in city of Bombay. The same principle can be considered for other cities as well.

Slum RedevelopmentThe concept of grant of additional FSI upto the limit of 2.5 has been introduced in the DC Regulations for city of Bombay. The same may be considered for other

cities where pressure of development is high and where multistoried structures/flats are acceptable for residential use.

Land Allocation for Public Facilities with Mixed users.

The concept of accommodation reservations i.e. allowing mixed users in a single structure having public facilities on ground and first floors and having residences on the upper floors has been permitted vide DC Regulations of city of Bombay. The same concept can be considered in other cities where pressure on land is high and multistoried residential development is acceptable.

( This Research Study by the Author was sponsored by CRDT of the Institute of Town Planners, India)