After a wait of 16 years, the unique tenants of Patra Chawl, also referred to as Siddharth Nagar in Goregaon, are lastly set to obtain their long-promised houses with the completion of the mission with 672 flats.
The Maharashtra Housing and Space Growth Authority (MHADA)’s Mumbai board will quickly hand over the keys to tenants. The precise date for the allotment is but to be introduced.
The redevelopment of the chawl was stalled after the unique developer went bankrupt in 2017, leaving the mission incomplete and a whole lot of households in limbo.
As per the tripartite settlement between the developer, MHADA, and the tenants’ society, the rehab tenements have been to be prepared inside 36 months after vacating the property in 2009. As many as 672 tenants vacated their houses between 2009 and 2010, with the developer offering hire funds till 2014-15. However, building stopped in 2014-2015 when the work was 40 per cent full. Throughout this era, the developer additionally stopped hire funds of Rs 40,000.
After the developer’s chapter, hire funds stopped, pushing the matter into authorized battles, together with proceedings within the Nationwide Firm Legislation Tribunal (NCLT). The mission suffered repeated setbacks earlier than MHADA stepped in to revive it below the earlier Maharashtra authorities led by then-chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. In 2018, MHADA cancelled the settlement with the developer over delay within the mission, non-payment of hire, and dishonest the Authority over the promoting of land to different non-public builders.
A brand new contractor Relcon was appointed in February 2022 to finish the mission. Relcon was the primary contractor appointed to finish the mission to the tune of Rs 320 crore roughly. MHADA additionally began paying hire of Rs 25,000 per home in 2018.
An official from MHADA acknowledged {that a} lottery system, much like that of the Bombay Growth Directorate (BDD) Chawls, will decide the floor-wise allocation of the 672 flats to tenants.
‘Battle wasn’t simply monetary however deeply private’
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Rajesh Dalvi, one of many beneficiaries and the president of the Goregaon Siddharth Nagar Co-operative Housing Society (Patra Chawl Tenants Affiliation), mirrored on the lengthy and painful wait for his or her houses.
“After I vacated my home within the chawl, my son was simply 16 years previous. At this time, he’s a father himself. A complete section of our lives has handed, and for many people, it has been an emotionally tough journey. My mom, too, handed away earlier than she may see our new dwelling. This battle was not simply monetary however deeply private, and nearly each household right here has the same story.”
Dalvi criticised MHADA for failing to behave sooner, forcing tenants to endure years of uncertainty. He identified that whereas MHADA has acquired 43 acres of land from the 47-acre redevelopment mission, the tenants haven’t obtained many advantages.
“As per the preliminary settlement, MHADA was supposed to supply a Rs 25 crore corpus fund. Given the present market worth, we’ve got now demanded a rise on this quantity. If MHADA can waive off Rs 1,200 crore for personal builders concerned on this mission, why is there no reduction for the unique tenants who gave up their houses and waited for over a decade?” he requested.
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Dalvi additionally urged MHADA to allocate a number of the extra houses inside their constructing to the housing society as a income supply for upkeep, and the remainder might be used for the Authority’s officers.
Along with the unique residents, MHADA has additionally taken steps to accommodate 302 lottery winners from the 2016 housing draw, who have been alleged to obtain houses from this redevelopment however confronted delays because of the mission’s stagnation. Final month, the Mumbai board issued cost letters to those winners, marking a vital step towards their long-awaited dwelling allotments.
MHADA spent Rs 18 crore to finish these lottery houses, alone which have been left unfinished by the earlier developer and obtained an Occupancy Certificates.
