The fear created by the rape and murder of three minor girls in the Nehru Nagar area in Kurla has not only gripped the slum dwellers, but also affected the minds of those who seek residence in high-rises.
Divyesh Singh
The fear created by the rape and murder of three minor girls in the Nehru Nagar area in Kurla has not only gripped the slum dwellers, but also affected the minds of those who seek residence in high-rises.
Nehru Nagar’s proximity to Harbour line stations like Chembur, Tilak Nagar and Chunabhatti, and its bus connectivity and easy access to the eastern express highway make it one of the most sought-after localities for rented accommodation in the eastern suburbs. Also, the nearby Kurla station gives the area direct connectivity with the western suburbs.
However, localities like Sai Baba Nagar — the newly-developed properties near Nehru Nagar police station — and the residential buildings developed near the highway, have not found any takers for the past two months.
“Nehru Nagar is mostly preferred by working professionals who buy or take flats on rent. But since the cases of rape and murder have come to the fore, the number of queries for flats has reduced greatly. People now want to go to Tilak Nagar or Chembur although they are not as conveniently located as Nehru Nagar is,” said Mohammad Rehman, an estate agent from Kurla.
Earlier, the rental charges of one bedroom flats in Nehru Nagar was anywhere between Rs10,000 to Rs16,000 per month. But now they are offered to clients at Rs7,500 to 13,000. Even the deposit amount is being reduced by 20-25% by owners.
The sales figures, as per local agents, have also dropped to a great extent. Either there have been no queries for purchase or clients do not agree to the amount being quoted. The rates for residential properties in the area is around Rs8,000 to 12,000 per sq ft but the clients are demanding rates from Rs7,000 to Rs11,000 per sq ft.
Girish More, a software engineer who bought a flat in Nehru Nagar last year and rented it out to a family, said: “The family wanted to leave the flat a month before the contract ended. I have been looking for people to rent out the flat but to no avail. Even to sell the flat, I have not got any good price. In fact, the price is much less than what it was some time back.”
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