PTI

Mumbai, Oct 21: An NGO in Mumbai has collected over Rs 100 crore as 'token money' from over one lac home-seekers in the metropolis to pay for land costs to the state government.
   
The NGO, Brihanmumbai Niwara Abhiyan proposes to get constructed one lac houses for the lower and middle income groups in the megapolis.

We are fighting for the rights of homeless and are making efforts to get land from the government for the purpose, NGO President Mrinal Gore said.
   
"We do not want free houses, but we are fighting with the government to allot land to the common man," he said, adding that each member has deposited Rs 10,000 individually in their name, thus chances of misusing funds is remote.
   
Over 4,000 societies - each with over 30 members have been formed and they will decide the layout and design of the buildings, once the land is allotted by the government, Gore said.
   
Even the state-owned Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has also showed its inclination to construct two lakh houses in various parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Raigad district, a top MHADA official told.

He said to construct two lac flats they would require 400 hectares of land for which they have approached the state government.

Interestingly, most of the land owned by MHADA is encroached by slum-dwellers for quite long and now they want these encroacher's to be removed so that they can fulfil their dream project, the official said.
   
Gore along with the Left and Janata Dal(S) have been opposing the government and are against the scrapping of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA).