Following a long-drawn struggle by Chembur residents and developers against the heritage precinct plan for the eastern suburb, the government has virtually scrapped the idea.
On Thursday, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan cleared a file leaving nearly all of the Chembur area free of the heritage tag, marking out St Anthony's Church, a Jain temple, the leoprosy home in Trombay and some bungalows in Deulwadi for special protection.
The residents' battle would have been extended by another two months had the government not cleared the file before the announcement of the assembly elections.
Even the gaothan area in the eastern suburb does not have the heritage tag. A government regulation (GR) will be issued shortly on the issue.
Chembur residents learned of the decision only on Friday evening. "For the past 13 months, the development process in Chembur was stalled. There are several dilapidated buildings that need immediate repair or redevelopment," said Yashodhan Sandu, a resident. "Even minor repair work and painting would have required the nod of the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee. Thankfully, justice has been delivered."
The Chembur Citizens Forum attributed the success of their struggle to Chandrakant Handore, the local MLA. "He has been pushing the issue for a long time. Chembur residents were disappointed as the area was wrongly designated a heritage precinct when in fact it does not have any particular heritage characteristic," a resident said.
The citizens forum had petitioned the Bombay High Court on the issue and in March the court ordered a review of the proposal within two months. "As this was to be an in-depth review, the BMC sought an extension," a forum member said.
A review committee headed by Dinesh Afzalpurkar, former state chief secretary, recorded objections and suggestions from residents and compiled a report recommending that more than 500 buildings be taken off the heritage list.
The report was submitted to the municipal commissioner., who in turn sent it to the state urban development department. The report was subsequently circulated to the town planning department which also gave its views on the subject.
"After a meeting of the departments concerned conducted by the urban development department, the file was presented to the chief minister who cleared it on Thursday," said a source.
Dhiraj Gala, a resident said the decision was significant particularly for senior citizens, who constitute a large section of the population in Chembur. "It will save them a lot of bother," he said.
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