Congestion,builders’ disinterest stall redevelopment projects here

Narrow bylanes with heaps of garbage running between matchbox buildings is a common sight in old areas of Nagpada and Agripada.

While most residents of these old,creaky houses prefer redevelopment of their buildings,unreasonable landlords and lack of interest among builders have rendered the pace of redevelopment slow.

Each cessed structure stands on a plot measuring merely 400 sq ft. R A Chaudhary,a resident of Byculla and an official in the Mumbai Fire Brigade,said because of the small plots,builders do not find redevelopment projects under 33(7) commercially viable.

“Builders will not be interested unless a group of cessed buildings come together and ask for a cluster redevelopment project. But the landlords here act like goons who do not give title clearances. Moreover,there is no clear majority amongst the residents of these buildings. Out of sheer apathy,people prefer staying in these houses,” he said.

He said fire-fighting is also difficult in these lanes,where two-wheelers are illegally parked and even the smallest fire tender cannot enter the lanes. These areas also have small cottage industries and mini industrial estates in Byculla and Mazgaon areas.

These,along with illegal slaughter houses,add to the poor sanitation. The other prominent chawls include the Khatau Chawl,BIT chawls and the Dagdi Chawl,known for its famous resident,don-turned-politician Arun Gawli.

Gawli’s daughter Geeta and sister-in-law Vandana are corporators in wards 205 and 204 respectively. The ward also includes the country’s largest red-light area,Kamathipura.

The E ward also has large tracts of Mumbai Port Trust Land such as areas of Reay Road,Darukhana and parts of Dockyard Road. NCP corporator Mangesh Bansod said there are limited BMC services in the area,such as adequate water supply and garbage collection.

Darukhana,which used to be a thriving dock in the 19th century,now has a number of ship breaking and metal scrap selling units with workers employed in dangerous work conditions.

The area is largely encroached upon by slums and also has many wholesale storage units for iron and steel. Ship breaking is not only environmentally hazardous but also leads to occasional fire incidents that have claimed lives of many workers in the past.

Redevelopment may have been slow for cessed buildings but large tracts of defunct mill lands such as Khatau Mills have seen rapid redevelopment with swanky tall high-rises in Motisha Lane. The Ghodapdeo area with old slums has seen a considerable amount of redevelopment with the MHADA developing almost 70 buildings in the area.

However,water shortage is a problem here. Three-time Shiv Sena corporator Ramakant Rahate said the BMC’s water pipelines to each of their buildings are a mere two inches in diameter,leading to water shortage.

The Sane Guruji Marg,along which the Arthur Road Jail is located,witnesses severe traffic jams during evening and morning peak hours due to the construction of the Jacob Circle-Wadala Monorail.

The ward has few open spaces worth mentioning. The revamp plan of the Byculla Zoo,owned and maintained by the BMC,has been mired in controversy with citizen groups opposing the multi-crore project,which they feel,will rob the zoo of its green cover.

Similarly,since the Joseph Baptista Garden atop the Bhandarwada Hills — nicknamed “Malabar Hill of the poor man” — overseeing the Mumbai harbour was brought under the BMC’s Rs 3-crore revamp project,the residents now see tiles and concrete instead of grass and tall trees.