The Bombay High Court on Monday reserved order on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the haphazard manner in which the redevelopment of BDD chawls in Worli in central Mumbai is proposed.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justices SV Gangapurwala and S G Chapalgaonkar was hearing a PIL filed by Shirish Patel and others staying that the buildings constructed are close to each other and the lack of light and air may contribute to diseases like tuberculosis and other health issues.
There are 206 BDD chawls, spread across 92 acres in the city. Out of these 120 are in Worli, 32 in N M Joshi Marg, 42 in Naigaon and 12 in Sewri. The Maharashtra government has initiated process for redevelopment of all chawls, except for those in Sewri, which are built on Mumbai Port Trust land.
Redevelopment of the BDD chawl is just going to be like "modern slums"
Senior counsel Aspi Chenoy, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the redevelopment of the BDD chawl is just going to be like "modern slums". "The developers have clustered all the tenants in 11 buildings without any space in between each building...so that they can construct a 70-storey building for sale," Chenoy said.
He contended that this showed that double standards are being applied towards poor people and those who are well off. “The double standards of how you sell and how you rehabilitate is gross. You can't make obscene amount of money on the life and health of the rehabilitated people when you are taking their land,” he said.
To drive home the point, Chenoy pointed out a study undertaken by the petitioners which showed that the quality of construction is likely to be better that other slum rehabilitation projects. “ But it shows that during the large times of the day, there will be no sunlight especially on the lower floors because of the proximity between the buildings, he added.
Original tenants have no grievance on the redevelopment
Refuting the allegations, advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the MHADA and government, said till date none of the around 16,000 original tenants raised any grievance on the redevelopment.
Kumbhakoni pointed out that the petitioners are civil engineer and architecture and were involved in the preparation of the BDD Chawl reconstruction plan and "they themselves had given a report and had suggested a reconstruction model which was not accepted by government and thus they filed the petition," alleged Kumbhakoni.
To this, the bench said the apprehension was about basic necessities. “With the design approved by you, just show that there is ample air and light,” said Justife Gangapurwala.
Kumbhakoni replied that the plan was as per the DCPR 2034 and various reports show that there will be satisfactory light and air.
Advocate Milind Sathe, appearing for a company undertaking the reconstruction project at NM Joshi marg, said that the petition was vague and the Environment Impact Assessment had been done. Apprising-the court about the status of redevelopment, Sathe said that 3-4 dilapidated buildings have been demolished, 500 people have been rehabilitated and construction work is going on.
Another company which has undertaken redevelopment work at Naigaon said that as of now, 6 chawls have been demolished and excavation work has started by them.
