As Elphinstone bridge gets demolished, affected residents face uncertain future

On September 12, deputy chief minister and MMRDA chairman Eknath Shinde declared that 83 families residing in Haji Noorani Chawl and Lakshmi Niwas would be relocated to Mhada flats in the vicinity

Mumbai: More than 10 days after the Elphinstone Road bridge was shut to traffic to make way for the Sewri Worli Elevated Corridor, 83 families residing in two buildings that will be affected by the project remain clueless about their rehabilitation.

The British-era Elphinstone bridge was closed to traffic on the night of September 12 to make way for the Sewri Worli Elevated Corridor. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

“Until September 12, the authorities had been assuring us that the transition will be smooth and they will be in constant communication. Now that the bridge’s demolition has begun, they all have disappeared. This only proves our point that we are not a priority for the government,” one of the residents of Laxmi Sadan and Haji Noorani Chawl told Hindustan Times.

The British-era Elphinstone bridge was closed to traffic on the night of September 12. The same day, deputy chief minister and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) chairman Eknath Shinde declared that 83 families residing in Haji Noorani Chawl and Lakshmi Niwas would be relocated to Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) flats in the vicinity.

The two buildings are slated to be demolished to accommodate two pillars of the Sewri Worli Elevated Corridor.

Since work on demolishing the bridge began, neither the MMRDA nor the Mhada has reached out to the residents regarding rehabilitation, they said.

A senior MMRDA official, however, denied the allegation and said, on condition of anonymity, they were in constant touch with the residents.

Munaf Thakur, secretary of Haji Noorani Chawl, said the residents felt cheated as Mhada had refused to share a list of tenements available in the area despite several pleas from them.

“To my knowledge, 34 units are available within 200 metres,” he said.

When HT asked a senior MMRDA official about the location of buildings where the affected residents would be rehoused, he said available tenements were spread across multiple buildings within a 4-km radius from their current location.

Thakur said they had earlier promised rehabilitation within a 2-km radius.

“Are we being fooled once again,” he wondered.

As per the rehabilitation criteria, residents with tenements measuring up to 300 sqft would be given homes with 35% additional area, measuring 405 sqft. Similarly, families with tenements measuring 300-1,292 sqft would get houses with 35% additional carpet area.

In April, the state government had assured that 19 other buildings near the bridge would be reconstructed under the cluster redevelopment scheme. But five months down the line, a notification is yet to be issued. Developer Shraddha Prime Projects had made an offer to residents of the 19 buildings over a month ago, but there has been no development since, they said.