Chembur'sChitra CHS goes for redevelopment

Twelve members of Chitra Cooperative Housing Society in Chembur will soon get bigger and better homes. They, too, have decided to redevelop their near 64-year-old plot and a two-storeyed building themselves. They took this decision after they waited to find a developer for their building for four years. They faced multiple problems while looking for a developer. Many developers backed out as they did not find the project financially viable. High premium and approval charges were the major obstacles the society members faced during their four-year search. They stopped looking for a developer after deciding to go for self-redevelopment with financial support from Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank (Mumbai Bank) Each of the 12 members of Chitra CHS will get one additional flat after the redevelopment along with Rs 32 lakh corpus, which will make the society maintenance-free. As society members own the plot, ownership and development rights will stay with them even at the time of reconstruction. One of the problems with redeveloping a MHADA building is the tit-bit area. "MHADA approved our plan within two months, but it had put a condition that the tit-bit area (a common area between two MHADA buildings) will be occupied by a sub-committee of the state cabinet," KV Kadam, Secretary, Chitra CHS in Chembur said.