Housing society residents in Parel allege Slum Rehabilitation Authority flouting Bombay High Court’s 35% open space rule

The SRA proposed a scheme in 2011 to construct 3,523 housing units on a land parcel with a gross area of 71,687 square metres. Following the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s DP regulation, an area of 16,714 square metres or 23.3 per cent of the total gross area of the plot was reserved for a common open space.

Later in 2014, the authorities included some of the adjoining land parcels with the original plot, and the overall gross area of the project increased to 1.03 lakh square metres, while the reserved open space area increased to 25,376 square metres, which was 24.5 per cent of the gross plot area. The number of housing tenements proposed for construction also increased to 3,745 units.

Later, in 2019, the SRA authorities further amalgamated a portion of an adjoining land parcel, and the overall gross area increased to 1.07 lakh square metres, marking a marginal rise. The number of proposed tenements to be sold, however, rose to 4,534 units, and the reservation of open space saw a sharp decline, with the designated portion for recreational ground (RG) standing at 8,816 square metres, which was just 8.16 per cent of the gross area.

Bombay High Court order

Sources say this is a direct violation of the Bombay HC’s June 20 order that mandated that SRA projects designate 35 per cent of the plot size for open spaces and gardens.

During the ruling, the HC bench said that once the SRA project is completed, 35 per cent of its open space must be handed over to civic bodies for management within 90 days of obtaining an occupation certificate for the project, unless the corporation permits joint maintenance with a housing society and such space should not be enclosed or restrict entry of local public.

“No portion of the open space shall be reserved exclusively for any private group, resident association, or developer,” it noted.

The HC had also directed the state government and the SRA to form a dedicated committee or appoint a senior officer to oversee the implementation of the regulation on the ground, and to submit quarterly reports to the SRA and the Urban Development Department (UDD), which should be uploaded to their websites.

Residents allege construction on land parcels meant for open spaces

Meanwhile, locals allege that starting last year, SRA authorities began construction on land parcels that were intended for public open spaces.

Initially, the housing towers that were built by SRA were sold to us by saying that we would have this as open space. However, it has been several years since we moved into our homes, but the open spaces are yet to take shape,” Prabhakar Awalegaonkar, a resident of one of the six societies, told The Indian Express.

“In total, there are five Recreation Garden (RG) plots. The RG 1 plot is located at the top of the cliff, which is not easily accessible to the public. The RG 2 plot is being sold to a new builder by the SRA after the previous builder to whom the contract for building tenements was originally given went bankrupt. The authorities have started construction work for new housing tenements at RG 3, while RG 4 and RG 5 are reserved for building housing tenements that will be later allocated to Project Affected Parties (PAP),” Awalegaonkar added.

When The Indian Express contacted SRA CEO Mahendra Kalyankar, he refused to comment.

Meanwhile, an official from the local BMC’s ward office said, “This is an SRA project and BMC does not own the land. Therefore, the onus of the entire case rests with the SRA. Unless the project is completed, the BMC can’t do much because the rules state that we can only maintain the open spaces after it is handed over within 90 days after project completion.”

The residents have, however, now filed a writ petition in the Bombay HC. Rohan Shah, another resident and petitioner in the case, said that they have been fighting this case since 2019.

“The original land was filled with encroachment and it was given to the SRA for building housing tenements. Over time, the built-up area, as well as the number of housing tenements to be built, increased, but the designated area for recreational grounds decreased substantially. We have been fighting this case for more than six years now. Initially, we approached NGOs and sent legal notices to the SRA and BMC, but no action has been taken so far. But still, we are not giving up and have filed a writ petition in the court,” Shah told The Indian Express.