Construction of Metro 2A: MMRDA, BMC talk on relaxing redevelopment plan terms

The construction of the Metro 2A corridor has created hurdles for the redevelopment plan. (File)

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is in discussion with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to relax certain “hardships” for the redevelopment of a housing society in Jogeshwari after it approached the Bombay High Court against eviction. The construction of the Metro 2A corridor has created hurdles for the redevelopment plan.

The Adarsh Nagar Shree Adarsh Co-Operative Housing Society Limited on New Link Road was set to redevelop a 3,800 sqm plot. In the society that has 80 members occupying ground floor structures on a land originally owned by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), around 45 members are expected to be affected. Situated on a corner plot, the D N Nagar to Dahisar Metro 2A is supposed to take a turn there and the curve will take up 1,200-1,400 sqm of the plot dividing the remaining plot in two unequal parts. The MMRDA has allowed the society to go ahead with the redevelopment plans on the two parts of the land. However, society members have sought certain relaxations.

A senior MMRDA official said: “We have had a meeting with the officials of the BMC and MHADA about submitting the proposal regarding the residents’ demands. They had planned redevelopment. But with the metro going right through their plots, the designs would have to be changed. However, as they are losing a lot of land, they want certain conditions for redevelopment relaxed.”

Shakil Multani, the chairman of the society, said: “We are not against the metro and we do not want any compensation or rehabilitation. We just want the MMRDA to help us get some exemptions and get the building approval from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).” Among the demands are relief from payment of premium charges for the affected area to the MHADA, relaxation in the amount of space left on either side of the buildings and allowing car lift.

The society has 51 residential structures and 29 commercial tenements. While the MMRDA had promised the members earlier that it will negotiate for relaxations with the MCGM, the society approached court last month when the members received a notice from the MMRDA on March 9 seeking documents to check eligibility for rehabilitation. “The MMRDA is offering us rehabilitation in residential tenements in Malad. We have shops on the main road right now. How will we do business from these tenements?” Multani said. An MMRDA official said: “We are trying to get these relaxations from the BMC.”