In a sigh of relief to the residents living near the Elphinstone Bridge in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government on Monday announced that it will redevelop 19 buildings in the area and provide all residents with new homes at the same location, an official statement said.
According to the statement, the decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai.
Senior officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), etc were also present at the meeting, it said.
Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar raised the issue of affected residents during the meeting.
He said that local MLA Kalidas Kolambkar and a delegation of residents had requested that the redevelopment take place without displacing them from their area.
According to the statement, initially, the construction work for the Elphinstone Bridge was expected to affect all 19 buildings in the locality. However, with a new plan by the government, only 2 buildings will now be directly affected. Still, locals were fear the remaining 17 buildings might also face risk due to the construction work.
To address concern, Ashish Shelar requested that MMRDA should carry out the redevelopment of all 19 buildings under Section 33(9) without waiting for a private developer and CM Fadnavis has accepted the request.
Shelar further demanded that the residents of the two affected buildings should be provided with redeveloped houses at the same location instead of shifting them to Kurla or offering compensation, to which the state Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister has agreed, it said.
As per the plan, the residents of the two affected buildings will be temporarily relocated to transit accommodation in Kurla. Once the redevelopment of the remaining 17 buildings is complete, these residents will also be given permanent homes at the same location, the official statement said.
Shelar expressed gratitude to the state government after the demands were agreed.
He said, “Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde have given great relief to the people especially the locals by ensuring in-situ housing for the affected residents.”
