Mumbai: The BMC has invited a tender for redevelopment of its century-old Bombay Improvement Trust (BIT) chawls in Tadwadi at Mazgaon. Around 1,347 residents – many of them police personnel and civic workers residing with their families in these chawls along with other tenants – will benefit from the project. The work is expected to start in November, said a civic official. The demand for redevelopment of 16 such buildings was pending for more than a decade.
Mumbai is home to 80 BIT chawls older than 100 years. Most of these buildings are situated at Mazgaon-Tadwadi, Lovelane, Mumbai Central, Agri Pada, and Parel. The municipal tenanted property, BIT chawls in Tadwadi, is in dilapidated condition. It was a long pending demand of the residents to redevelop the chawls.
Stiff opposition from tenants in early stages
A developer was appointed a few years back but the move did not go well. In 2016, the BMC tried to shift some families residing in the dilapidated building to Mahul in Chembur. However, the civic authorities had to face stiff opposition from the tenants. The residents demanded construction of transit camps within 3km of their chawl homes.
Former corporator from Mazgaon, Manoj Jamsutkar, said, “Delay in civic decisions and differences among the residents and court cases created many hurdles in the redevelopment project. Several developers showed interest, but they did not fulfil the requirement. Following the court order, now the BMC has invited fresh tenders. We hope now the buildings will finally be redeveloped.”
Pointers:
Expected 470 sqft houses
BMC expecting to earn Rs100 crore
5 nodal officials appointed
August 21 Final date of tender submission
Sprawl 16 buildings
Deadline 7 years
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