PPF housing1 02 1950 Greater Bombay Tenants Union Formed 17 July
Housing conference by Bombay Tenants Association demanding rationing of space in the city.
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RATIONING OF LIVING SPACE IN BOMBAY
Plea By Tenants’ Association
Rationing of living space was
suggested as a remedy to overcome
the present acute shortage of accommodation in Greater Bombay, at
a conference of the Bombay Tenants’
Association held in Podar College,
Bombay, on Sunday. Mr. G. G.
Mehta presided.
A resolution which contained the
suggestion, and was unanimously
Passed at the conference, expressed
the fear that the acute housing
shortage now prevailing in Greater
Bombay was likely to continue for
several years to come, "in view of
the failure of the Government, the
Municipality and the moneyed class
to build new tenements on an adequate scale".
In order to make available living
accommodation immediately to thousands of the homeless in the city,
the resolution urged upon the Government of Bombay to introduce a
scheme whereby. surplus floor-area
in big flats and palatial buildings
in Greater Bombay might be rationed or billetted.
The conference, in another resolution, called upon the Government
either to withdraw the Riot Tax altogether or to charge its incidence,
and impose it on landlords who could.
afford to pay. Calling Government's
decision to impose the tax on tenants
"unfair, unjust and contrary to the
spirit of the Constitution of the Republic of India", the resolution said
that the decision was bound to result in great hardship to the tenants
in the city.
BUILDING REPAIRS
Resolutions requesting the Bombay Government to compel landlords
by legislation to set apart a fixed
portion of rent for repairs, reserve
fund, and to amend the Rent Act so
as to make its provisions applicable
to tenements managed by Government and the Municipality, were
also passed at the meeting.
Before the conference ended, the
Greater Bombay Tenants’ Union was
also formed.
Presiding over the conference, Mr.
Mehta gave the delegates a detailed
account of the present housing shortage in the city, and as a way out of
the situation, suggested that Government should call upon owners of
vacant plots in the city to construct
buildings thereon as high and wide
as possible within a limited period.
In the event of their failing to do
so, Government should acquire those
plots and allot them to co-operative
housing societies and local bodies, or
utilise them to implement their own
housing schemes.
Another measure suggested by
Mr. Mehta to overcome the shortage
of living accommodation was building of sky-scrapers wherever possible, instead of ground-floor or one-storey structures. The cost of construction was bound to work out
lower if such a policy was adopted,
he added. He also pleaded for relaxation of the rule relating to the
height of houses in the city. Private
enterprise having not proved helpful so far in the matter of constructing houses on an adequate scale,
Government should increase their
building activities, he said, adding
that India compared unfavourably in
that respect with other countries.
Mr C. Ranga Iyer a member of
former Central Legislative Assembly, inaugurated the conference.
Mr. N. M. Joshi, addressing the
meeting, declared that the tenants,
who had remained unorganised till
now, would be able to voice their
grievances with the formation of the
Union. The Union should agitate for
suitable amendments in the Rent
Act and other legislations connected with housing, he added.
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