Heritage status to affect 10,000 Shivaji Park residents in Mumbai

The BMC’s proposal to declare the entire area of Shivaji Park as a heritage precinct has angered its residents. Such a move will have an adverse effect on the development of the area, which has close to 200 buildings and 10,000 residents. The Heritage Grade-I precinct tag will stall any kind of development in the area and no interventions will be permitted either on the exterior or interiors of heritage buildings.

Dinesh Afzalpurkar, ex-chief secretary of the state, who heads the Heritage Review Committee of the BMC, heard the first batch of 60 aggrieved residents on Friday at the civic headquarters. “The residents had several objections. They are already upset as Shivaji Park is under the Coastal Regulation Zone Act. Now, the heritage tag will botch up chances of growth in the area,” he said.

According to the definition of the conservation of heritage sites, including buildings in heritage precincts and natural features area, close to 200 structures or buildings spread over 10sqkm of area along with more than 18 acres of Shivaji Park grounds will be included. Unless absolutely necessary in the interest of the life of the buildings or precincts, only essential and minimum changes will be allowed. They must be in conformity with the original structure or features. 

“Labelling the area as Heritage Grade-I will hamper the development of the place and its residents who have been living there for decades,” said PS Phadnis, a resident of Radha Nivas at Shivaji Park. Phadnis is an architect and is handling a project in the area which was stalled by the civic body six months ago. The developer faced losses worth crores.

DR Kulkarni, a resident of Indira Cooperative Housing Society opposite the Shivaji Park grounds, is also wary about converting the entire area as a heritage zone. “Firstly, there are no historical structures apart from Savarkar Smarak, the mayor’s bungalow and the Shivaji Park grounds. None of the buildings have any aesthetic or architectural value... all are in a dilapidated state,” said Kulkarni, who is employed with an MNC. He said their lives will be at stake if they continue to live in dilapidated buildings, especially now when building crashes are common.

Politics at play over heritage status
Besides outrage over ‘heritage tag’, the issue took a political turn. MNS MLA Nitin Sardesai and corporators from Dadar  got a bus to ferry residents to BMC headquarters and back. MNS won all six civic constituencies and an assembly seat in Dadar, a traditional Shiv Sena bastion. MNS latched on to the issue, which has been ignored by the Shiv Sena.

Mayor Sunil Prabhu, however, said no one must politicise the issue and all parties must do their bit for Shivaji Park locals. He said his party took up the issue the day Shivaji Park was declared a heritage precinct in 2012. “No question of politicising the issue. Residents had expressed inability to go for hearings on working days and senior citizens said they could not travel upto CST,” he said.

Afzalpurakar said BMC is looking for a central venue for the next meet on December 9. “We’ve asked the BMC chief to ensure it is held in G–North ward so all residents can attend,” he said. “It’s easier for BMC to hold meetings in Dadar instead of asking residents to travel to CST. Many have raised objection,” said Sandeep Deshpande, corporator from Shivaji Park.

Friday’s meet saw residents give a written submission. “It was a personal hearing on the proposed draft list of heritage structures and precincts... We wanted to hear residents before giving a report to civic authorities. The BMC is supposed to submit an affidavit in court before January 31, 2014,” said Afzalpurkar, adding that residents want redevelopment to get dual benefit of better facilities and ownership of flats.