Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has put up a proposal with the slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) to rehabilitate the slum dwellers to proceed with the completion of 120 ft. development plan (DP) road. After allocating 47 residential units to project affected person (PAPs) in June, the second phase with 120 available units will rehabilitate the remaining families.
On October 1, The Free Press Journal had reported that the BMC rejected the chief minister’s direction to realign the proposed 120 ft DP road from Magathane to Goregaon, to save the slum structures in Singh Estate, stating that the realignment is technically not possible.
The BMC chief had passed the order while hearing Lokhandwala Township residents’ petition forwarded by the Bombay High Court and cited that the proposed plan has been implemented and most part of the road has already been constructed.
On June 19, BMC held a lottery for the allotment of 47 residential PAPs in Poisar Village in Kandivali (E), in the first phase. As the residents opposed PAP tenements in Lokhandwala’s Vesta Building due to less area, the BMC dropped it from the lottery and is now following up with SRA for rehabilitation at Suhas Modi CHS in Kandivali (E).
Shishir Vivekanand Shetty, founder of Lokhandwala Residents’ Association and one of the petitioners in the issue, had written to the assistant engineer (maintenance) of R/South ward requesting a time-bound implementation of the work.
In a reply, the official said that 120 residential PAPs are available for rehabilitation at the said society and the demolition work will be carried out after the eligible structure owners are rehabilitated.
The lottery for the second phase is said to be initiated tentatively in August, which will cover all the eligible residents as on date. The civic body has also made provisions for additional PAP's in case a few more residents turn eligible.
The petitioners said that they are in touch with the civic body’s roads department with their readiness to construct the said 120 ft DP road as the tender for construction was awarded immediately after the municipal commissioner ordered the implementation of the said DP Road following their PIL.
Shetty said, “We're expecting the construction of the said road to initiate tentatively by October 2025 or latest by November. We are consistently following up on all the developments regarding the project and hopefully our residents should see the road being constructed by December 2025 or latest by January 2026.”
