Luxe tower for mantris to replace old bungalow in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The 105-year-old Puratan bungalow at Malabar Hill will be pulled down to make way for a swanky 18-storey building that will house state ministers. Each floor will have an approximately 5,000 sqft space for a minister to live and work in too, said a state government official.
The decision was taken at a high-powered committee meeting on Thursday. The two-storey bungalow was last occupied by Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai in the previous BJP-Sena government and is currently unoccupied due to its dilapidated condition, said a senior bureaucrat. It bungalow will be dismantled in the next 20 days, said officials.

The project, which will cost an estimated Rs 110 crore, will be executed by the public works department and take nearly 1.5 years to complete from the time the tender is allotted.
The total plot on which the bungalow stands is 2,584 sqm and the government will sanction a FSI of 4 for the project.
4 bedrooms, office part of bldg floor plan for mantris
With this, the total built-up area available for the residential building will be 10,337 sq m.
According to the floor plan, each floor will have four bedrooms, a minister’s office, a conference room, a visitors’ area and a dining room. The building will also have VIP parking and a separate entry and exit for ministers and their families.
A senior official said each day, a large number of people turn up to meet a minister, which has been factored in while preparing the floor plan. “There will be ample space for visitors to sit. There will also be a pantry area for them to have their meals, considering that a lot of them come from villages across the state,” he said.
There will be five lifts: Two for the ministers, two for guests and visitors, and one for the household and office staff working in the building, the official added.
“The bungalow is old and dilapidated. It would have required a lot of refurbishment to make it habitable. Therefore, a decision was taken to pull it down and make way for a tower that will house ministers,” said an official. He further said that currently, at least 10 ministers live in small flats in buildings meant for IAS and IPS officers, and renting bungalows or flats in south Mumbai for them is exorbitant.
Several bungalows opposite the Mantralaya are in a bad shape as well. Some with structural issues can be pulled down once the building is ready and the ministers can be shifted there.
Now, administrative approval will be sought for the project and if a provision is made for it in the upcoming budget, then the PWD department will float tenders to call for bidders.
TOI had previously reported that the government was spending Rs 28 crore to repair and renovate 28 bungalows, most of which are located in Malabar Hill.
The repair work is almost complete. Officials said a large portion of the expenditure is being pumped into structurally strengthening these buildings.