The indifferent attitude of and the lack of coordination between the BMC and the Mhada has delayed the relocation of the Currey Road tenants.
The first phase of the city’s first and only project under the cluster redevelopment scheme — a 23-storey tower — has been lying unused for the past four months even as residents of Haji Kasam Chawl at Currey Road continue to live dangerously in dilapidated houses.
The reason? A No Objection Certificate. The indifferent attitude of and the lack of coordination between the BMC and the Mhada has delayed the relocation of the Currey Road tenants.
“Even the water connection has been given but we continue to live in these 145-year-old buildings that can collapse any day,” Pramod Shewale, a tenant, said. “We completed all the formalities months ago, but nothing has happened.”
While the Mhada has said its role is restricted to just conducting a survey of the tenants under section 33(9) and drawing up a list of members eligible for rehabilitation, the BMC has made it clear that occupation certificates cannot be given till NoCs have been submitted.
“The lack of coordination between the two government bodies can jeopardise Mumbai’s first cluster development project,” said Shewale. Of the 48 cluster redevelopment proposals submitted to the government to date, only three have been okayed, of which two never took off.
“Ours is the only project that has been completed,” Sanjay Gurav, a tenant, said. “The government should sort this mess. It will help not only us [the chawl tenants] but it will also set an example for others in Mumbai to follow.”
When the project took off in 2009, the 800 families and the occupants of 84 commercial structures in the erstwhile Islam Mills compound got a new lease of life. “As mill workers and their families, we contributed to the growth of Mumbai and today our future is bleak,” Gurav said. “We hope the chief minister will look into the matter at the earliest because our buildings can collapse any day.”
PP Maheshi, Mhada executive engineer, said, the eligible candidates have been certified. “Under 33(9), we are not authorised to give NoCs.”
Municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar was unavailable for comment.
Developers of the project hope that the government would take corrective steps. “This project will set an example for others and enable thousands of Mumbaikars staying in crumbling houses to live a respectable life in their new flats,” Kailash Agarwal of Nish Developers said.
Mumbai has close to 19,500 chawls, which have been declared dangerous by the MHADA. Most have also been certified “beyond repair.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}