Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment: Residents demand explanation for 'irregularities'

The probe ordered by the Eknath Shinde government into the Bhendi Bazaar cluster redevelopment by Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust SBUT has brought locals and civic officials facetoface with the residents demanding an explanation for the ldquoanomaliesrdquo and ldquoirregularitiesrdquo in the project They have now taken to social media and begun visiting the local ward office seeking the exact reasons for the BMCrsquos stopwork notice for the projectConcerned about the delay in the completion of their new homes nearly 200 residents and tenants sent a letter to the Cward office on Tuesday criticising and questioning the civic bodyrsquos decision to stall the work They said the stopwork notice provides no explanation on what the problems are and instead largely discusses the government probe directivesAlso read Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project Residents worry about further delayHuzefa Saifuddin Nulwalla who has already got his new homeShabbir Bagasrawala 48 and eight others in his family are awaiting their new homes Bagasrawala whose family is living in a transit camp at Mazgaon is among those who signed the letter ldquoAll three flats that my family is supposed to get are in the second phase There are thousands like me who are eagerly waiting for their new homes and suddenly they BMC issue a stopwork notice We want to know what went wrong They could have issued a stopwork notice if there were problemsrdquo Bagasrawala saidHe added ldquoWhen we questioned the BMC official he told us that the probe was announced in the assembly by deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis himself and that they had orders from the top officials to issue stopwork notice We are still not satisfied with this justificationrdquoThe AlSarsquoAdah towers that were built under the first phase of the project File picAll in order BMC in 2021Following a protest by MLAs the thenDeputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal convened a meeting in December 2021 during which the BMC informed that approvals were provided in accordance with the Development Control and Promotion Regulations 2034 and that there were no violationsThe new layout was accepted by the highpower panel led by BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal in January 2021 The BMC issued the Intimation of Disapproval IOD and Commencement Certificates CC for the redevelopment the same month In its latest notice the BMC has pointed to ldquoirregularitiesrdquo in the same plan that it had cleared in 2021 facilitating the constructionShabbir Bagasrawala now living in a transit campAccording to the SBUTrsquos plans the projectrsquos next phase will be completed by 2025 allowing the people of Bhendi Bazaar to return to their new homes and stores as soon as possibleThe redevelopment of the over125yearold Bhendi Bazaar is the largest of its kind for an urban neighbourhood in India Under the project 250 old structures and 1250 shops will make way for swanky buildings spread over 65 acres that will resettle 3200 familiesSo far 610 families and 128 shops have been accommodated in the first phase in two towers called AlSarsquoAdahrsquo which means wealth The work on the highrises started in 2016 and was completed in 2019The stalling of work will affect over 2000 families and more than 1000 shop owners who are still in transit accommodationHow to respond LocalsHuzefa Saifuddin Nulwalla 43 countered the BMCrsquos claim that a few residents had complained against the plan saying they deserve to know the socalled irregularities ldquoThe stopwork notice mentions a probe being ordered in the Assembly However unless we know what these irregularities are how will we clarify or justify our siderdquoNulwalla and others living in AlSarsquoAdah have voiced another protest ldquoIf the BMC can act on a complaint or two quickly and issue a stopwork notice why the corporation has ignored their repeated grouses about illegal hawkers He added ldquoWe have been complaining since March 2020 Apart from that around 400 residents of AlSarsquoAdah Cooperative Housing Society Ltd have filed online complaints too but no action was takenrdquoNulwalla added ldquoThere is one Pappu Juicewala who fights with us We suspect he has been stealing electricity and water In case of the stopwork notice we appeal to the ministers and BMC to at least specify what irregularities were found Already the project has been delayed this notice will delay it even morerdquo3No of yrs it took to complete the first phase