Mumbai, Oct 7 (PTI) The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday approved a scheme that seeks to redevelop slums in Mumbai as integrated housing projects with better living conditions and to improve urban infrastructure.

The slum cluster redevelopment scheme will be implemented by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), a state government agency established to provide modern housing to families living in shanties. The scheme is aimed at accelerating large-scale slum redevelopment and improving urban infrastructure in the financial capital.

The scheme will focus on redeveloping slum clusters as integrated housing projects, providing better living conditions while creating opportunities for private investment and construction activity, said a statement issued by the office of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after the Cabinet meeting.

It is expected to generate employment in construction and allied sectors, contributing to Mumbai's economic growth, said the statement.

In another decisions, the Cabinet approved a state-wide sewage treatment and reuse policy for 424 urban local bodies. The policy will promote a circular economy through waste water treatment and reuse, ensuring environmentally sustainable urban growth, it said.

Notably, a circular economy is a system that eliminates waste and pollution by keeping resources in use for a long time.

The government approved the allocation of 2.38 hectares of land at Mouza Badnera to the Amravati Municipal Corporation for 30 years for setting up an e-bus depot and charging infrastructure under the Centre's PM-E Bus Scheme.

The decision will provide a fillip to urban mobility and boost green transport initiatives, said the CMO statement.

In a decision benefiting education and welfare sectors, the Cabinet extended the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) scheme to non-teaching staff at 980 aided residential ashram schools run by voluntary organisations for students from OBC communities and children of sugarcane workers.

In another move, it approved the establishment of a senior civil court at Akole in Ahilyanagar district and sanctioned the creation of necessary posts for its functioning.

The government also cleared an amendment to the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947, removing a proviso under Section 8(b) and inserting a new clause in Section 9 to prevent land fragmentation and strengthen consolidation. PTI MR RSY

Slum cluster redevelopment scheme approved to transform slums into integrated housing projects and boost urban infrastructure. The cabinet approved a slum cluster redevelopment scheme to redevelop contiguous slum clusters in Mumbai as integrated housing projects implemented by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority, aiming to improve living conditions, attract private investment, generate construction employment and upgrade urban infrastructure; it also approved a statewide sewage treatment and reuse policy to promote a circular economy through treated wastewater reuse.