Mumbai: Even as redevelopment work progresses at the BDD chawls in Worli, Naigaon and NM Joshi Marg, the long-pending Sewri BDD chawl project remains stalled due to the lack of approval from the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), which comes under the Centre’s jurisdiction.
Built in 1922, the ground-plus-three Sewri BDD structures have completed 104 years and house 960 tenements. With the monsoon underway, residents say they live in constant fear of collapse as the dilapidated buildings show no signs of redevelopment.
“Only if the CM takes interest can anything happen. We have held several meetings over the last several years with different officials from the state and Centre, but nothing has happened,” said Mansingh Rane, a tenant and spokesperson for the Akhil Sewri BDD Chawl Redevelopment Project.
Unlike the other three BDD schemes, which are on state government land, the Sewri layout falls under the MbPT, governed by the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. This has kept the project in limbo despite repeated representations from residents, Rane added.
Families here have lived in the chawls for three generations. Each tenement measures just 160 sq ft, and residents say growing families have been forced to separate due to lack of space. “If we got new houses, we could all stay together,” tenants said.
The delay at Sewri stands in sharp contrast to the Worli BDD Chawl Redevelopment Project, where distribution of 827 rehabilitation apartments began on May 19 at the MHADA Project Office in Sumer Kendra, Worli.
On the first day, allotment letters were issued to 41 eligible residents from Wings F, G and H of Rehabilitation Building No 1. Of these, 36 residents who submitted the required documents were handed possession of flats on the same day.
The 192-acre BDD Chawl Redevelopment Project, billed as Asia’s largest urban renewal initiative, is being executed by MHADA across Worli, NM Joshi Marg-Parel and Naigaon. A total of 9,689 residents from 121 old chawls will be rehabilitated in Worli alone.
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Eligible residents currently living in 160 sq ft rooms will get free ownership-based 2BHK apartments with 500 sq ft carpet area in 40-storey rehabilitation towers.
MHADA plans a self-sufficient township with a commercial complex, schools, a gymnasium, hospital, hostel, sewage treatment plant, solar energy systems and rainwater harvesting facilities. The rehabilitated buildings will be maintained by MHADA for 12 years.
As part of heritage conservation, historic grounds such as Jambori Maidan and Ambedkar Maidan will be preserved. One old chawl building will also be preserved in its original form and converted into a museum by MHADA.
For now, Sewri’s 960 families continue to wait for a similar nod that could move them from century-old 160 sq ft rooms to safer homes.
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