Mumbai: Old buildings at Kamathipura, Kumbharwada to get facelift soon

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Minister of State for Housing, Ravindra Waikar, on Friday revealed the feasibility to redevelop the 100-year-old buildings which are situated in Kamathipura and Kumbharwada areas. This redevelopment project is likely to get a clearance within a month. This was revealed during his visit to these places after the residents complained of the poor condition of these buildings which are located in South Mumbai.

On Friday, Waikar visited these places along with senior officials and residents. Waikar first visited the Kumbharwada area and expressed his desire to redevelop the area and turn the area into a mall. Under the cluster redevelopment plan, the shop keepers will be able to run their business on the first floor and a designated car parking will be provided on the third floor.

The flats for the residents will be constructed above the parking area. Similar development plan has been suggested for the area of Kamathipura. “The Kamathipura area has at least a total number of 92 residential buildings which consists of at least 18000 square meter area. The residents were complaining of congestion in the area,” added the official. Waikar also suggested for road widening by using the Floor Space Index (FSI) and constructing more flats for the residents at Kumbharwada.

He also stated the requirement of sending a proposal to the state government by the land owners of these places. “The land owners are required to send a proposal after they are willing to redevelop the area. The second option will be the residents who can send a proposal and redevelop the area through a private developer,” added the official.

The other option would be to carry out the redevelopment by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). This will done on the lines of chawls of Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) after appointing the housing authority as a nodal agency.