Mhada to earn via material-testing lab

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (Mhada) is geared up to earn revenue via the material-testing laboratory.

To attract private construction companies and real estate developers, Mhada has decided to opt to upgrade the lab through ISO registration 2015.

For the same, Mhada has gone one step ahead by making online registration for material testing. As of now, atomisation of the system is a challenge for Mhada.

To overcome the challenge, Mhada officials are visiting updated laboratories in the state.

The lab in the Mhada building was set up around 1974 for testing of construction material used for different projects under Mhada.

The material used for the Mhada Repair Board, Konkan Board, Slum Repair Board is tested in the laboratory.

Nearly 70,000 samples get tested in the laboratory in one year. At present, the laboratory has a ISO 2008 certificate. “Mhada is thinking of going for an ISO 2015 licence. For the same, we need to upgrade the lab. The first step is taken by making the registration and report procedure online,” said a Mhada officer.

Now the challenge is to do the atomisation of the lab. “To update the ISO certificate 2015, we need to do atomisation of the lab. We are on it. But it is quite tough and challenging. As the machines we use are old. Though we are taking reading digitally, we need to know how the whole procedure will get automated and for the same, we are visiting other laboratories,” he said.

“If we get the ISO 2015 certificate, we can attract private construction companies to get their material tested in our laboratory. If we need to buy new machines for the same, we will do that too,” he added.