Private entity in Navi Mumbai proposes to take over the ‘management, maintenance & development’ of Nagaland House in Mumbai; set to flout existing laws
Morung Express News
Kohima | October 1
A proposal to take over the functioning of a building that is meant to be the Nagaland House in Mumbai has been submitted to the Nagaland State Government by a private company. The move is set to flout existing laws, and deny Naga people their rights.
A private entity, ‘Zacharia Industries Pvt. Ltd.’ (ZIPL), has proposed to the Government of Nagaland (GoN) in August this year that it take over the ‘management, maintenance and development’ of the yet nonfunctional Nagaland House in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. This, they have proposed, will be facilitated by floating a joint venture company whose share holding basis will be 80:20 (ZIPL:GoN).
While the Nagaland State Government is still studying the proposal, giving up the building to a private entity could turn out to be a big loss for Nagas. According to the Maharashtra government agency that allotted and leased the land to the GoN, such a transfer of rights to a private entity is not possible under its current laws. At worst, the deal could lead to GoN losing a property it has invested crores on.
Exclusive & irrevocable
The proposal by ZIPL—a copy of which is with The Morung Express—will take away control of the multi storey building, located in a prime location near the Vashi Railway station in Navi Mumbai, from the control of the Nagaland State Government in exchange for a meager 10 rooms as State guest house (at concessional rates).
Among other things, the company has proposed to pay Rs. 10 Lakh per year to the Government of Nagaland for 60 years, the time period for which the ZIPL proposes to sub-lease the property through a new joint venture. This deal, the company has stated, will be “exclusive and irrevocable.”
Local realtors estimate the current market rate for commercial property in the area to be up to Rs 1,50,000 per sq ft.
The proposition of using the current government property for commercial purposes is in violation of norms set by the City Industrial and Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), the Maharashtra State Government’s town planning agency and the owner of the plot.
The CIDCO had leased the property to the Government of Nagaland for a period of 90 years in 1999 under a special scheme that subsidized the price of the plot of land for setting up a Nagaland state-run guest house and emporium for the benefit of the people of Nagaland.
The Nagaland House construction was completed in 2010. However it has been out of operation till date due to a bureaucratic snag. The unavailability of a Nagaland House has put the Nagas living in/visitng Mumbai in a difficult position with no safe space to live for students, and patients who frequent Mumbai for cancer treatment.
The leased property
In January 1992, the Government of Nagaland requested CIDCO to grant a lease to it for a piece of land in Navi Mumbai. This was stated in the lease deed signed between GoN and CIDCO, a copy of which is available with The Morung Express. In May 1999, the CIDCO leased the GoN a 4030 sq mts (43378.56 sq ft) piece of land (in Navi Mumbai’s Vashi, Sector 30A) on a concessional rate (Rs. 278.99 Lakh in all) for the purpose of a state guest house.
The current multi-storey building on the plot was constructed by a contractor (M/S Buildrite Construction) that was awarded the work by CIDCO at a cost of Rs. 2403.40 Lakh, borne by Nagaland State. The Nagaland House, completed in August 2010, consists of one emporium, a show room, two multipurpose hall, 16 executive rooms, 8 ordinary rooms, two VVIP suite, two guest rooms, two VIP rooms apart from canteens and offices.
However, a Tsunami bottleneck has averted its occupation till date.
“There was no issue when the land was purchased in 1999 but a new zoning regulation was demarcated after the Tsunami in 2004,” said an official of the GoN to The Morung Express.
The Union Government’s ministry of environment came up with a new set of rules for the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) that seeks to protect Mumbai’s delicate mangrove ecosystem and the city itself. However, the plots for state guest house lands (for other states too) had been allotted by the CIDCO way back in the 1990s and a loophole in policy became an opportunity for private players.
In the above mentioned proposal, ZIPL promised to acquire the CRZ clearance on behalf of the GoN, followed by obtaining an Occupation Certificate; all for a bargain that will flout norms laid out by the lease deed signed between the CIDCO and the GoN.
“We’ve given the proposal to the Government of Nagaland and they said it is under consideration. We were told that it will take some months,” confirmed a representative from Zacharia Industries during a telephonic conversation with The Morung Express. The company is based in Mumbai and specializes in real estates.
As The Morung Express explores details of the proposal (and its repercussions) in a four-part series, the Chief Minister of Nagaland has already forwarded the proposal to Nagaland State Parliamentary Secretary (Housing), in August 2017, to “examine and take up for decision.” To be continued…
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