THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI *SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2017 9TIMES CITY

Mumbai: The redevelopmentof the 100-year-old BDD Chawlsinto 60-storey towers, whichwill substantially boost the ho-using stock in the heart of theisland city, may completely al-ter the character of what hasstill remained a predominant-ly working class preserve. Theskyscrapers will come up atthree locations—NM JoshiMarg at Lower Parel, Nai-gaum-Dadar and Worli—whe-re the three BDD enclaves aresituated. Besides, Mhada CEOMilind Mhaiskar claims, thenew flats will disrupt the realestate market in the area as the-se homes will be sold at a muchlower price than what privatedevelopers charge in theirhigh-end projects.

At Naigaum-Dadar, const-ruction firm L&T has been ap-pointed to redevelop the 13-acreBDD sprawl. As part of the freesale component, two skyscra-pers, each over 60 floors high,have been planned. The 3,344 te-nants who are currently livingin cramped 160 sq ft tenements,will be rehabilitated in separa-te 22-storey towers free of cost.In the two sale towers, 60% ofthe flats will be reserved forMIG, 30% for HIG and 10% forcommercial. Shapoorji Pallon-ji and SD Corporation wereawarded redevelopment rightsfor the NM Joshi Marg BDDchawls, where two towers ofover 40 storeys will be built aspart of the free sale component.There are currently 2,480 tene-ments in 32 chawls, which will

be pulled down and redevelo-ped into 22-storey buildings.The Worli BDD sprawl is thelargest of the three, spread over53 acres. Although the contractis yet to be awarded, the masterplan shows as many as 10 freesale towers, each between 60 to64 floors high. The contractorwill rehabilitate 9,680 familiesliving in 121chawls at BDD Wor-li. “This is the first redevelop-ment project of such magnitu-de executed by Mhada,” said S SKonnur, executive engineer of

Mhada’s Mumbai repair bo-ard. Other Mhada officials saidthere are a few pockets of resis-tance among chawl tenantsagainst the redevelopment. “Itseems to be motivated as theycould be backed by private buil-ders,” they said.

Property market observershowever cautioned the ambi-tious project could face glit-ches. Urban planner and for-mer Mhada president Chand-rashekhar Prabhu while sup-porting the project, cautioned

the Rs 4,500 per sq ft construc-tion rate quoted by the contrac-tors was a “fairly high price ag-reed under the contract”. “Inaddition, there is the escalationclause which will not only de-lay the project indefinitely butalso increase project costs sub-stantially. When most materialcosts, including steel, have go-ne down and no new projectshave been launched by buil-ders, not to mention existingworks being at a standstill, ag-reeing to such high construc-

tion costs raises serious ques-tions. Moreover due to the highcosts, the selling price would al-so be high and the whole theoryof disrupting prices will fallflat,” he said. Another propertyexpert not wishing to be identi-fied said, “Contractors have be-en using loopholes in the cont-ract to multiply costs over andabove the bid value. Is there anyprovision to keep costs undercheck? Historically, costs ofmost public works escalate inmultiples. Will this project toobe exposed to such risks?’’

Others raised questionsabout transit accommodation.“Mhada will provide hardly2,000 tenements against the15,513 required. Would there beover six rotations in one transitunit? If so, even if we take twoyears per rotation, which is tooambitious, wouldn’t it takeover 12 years for rehab alone?Wouldn’t the cost of these tene-ments be loaded on this pro-ject?” they said.

Gulam Zia, executive direc-tor at Knight Frank India, saida challenge Mhada will facewill be the social rehabilitationof tenants. “Dharavi redeve-lopment project is suffering lar-gely due to this concern as mostcurrent residents aren’t com-fortable with relocation inhigh-rises. A complete changein lifestyle will haunt most ex-isting residents,” he said. Ziasaid when over 8,000 MIG andHIG flats hit the market, it willhave a devastating effect onongoing projects. “A small dis-count of 10-15% compared toprivate builders will not be go-od enough to entice buyers tomake a beeline for this project.A deeper discount of 25-30%will make a good entry strategyfor this project,” he said. Howe-ver, Mhada officials said pricesof its flats and those of builderswill vary by at least 40%.

High Cost OfConstructionA Big Worry

Mhada says SoBo towers will disruptrealty market, experts raise doubts

Nauzer.Bharucha@timesgroup.com

The `4,500 per sq ft construction rate was a fairly high price agreed in the contract. Also, the escalation clause will delay

the project and hike costs. When material costs are down and no projects are launched, agreeing to such high rates raises questions

BDD: NEW LIFE, NEW LOOK FOR 100-YEAR-OLDS?

No. of BDD tenants to be rehabilitated

15,513

BDD CHAWLS | Bombay Development Department set up in 1920, built 50,000 tenements on reclaimed land in the city

WORLINAIGAUM-DADARNM JOSHI MARG

LOCATIONS: NM JOSHI MARG (LOWER PAREL), NAIGAUM-DADAR & WORLI

■ Contractor | L&T

■ Area | 13 acres

■ Status | Resistance to biometric survey from some residents, survey to start soon

■ Deadline | 7 years

■ Contract |Yet To Be Awarded

■ Area |Over 53 acres

■ Deadline | 8 years

Tenants9,680

Tenants3,344

■ Contractor | Shapoorji Pallonji & SD Corporation

■ Area | 13 acres

■ Status | 80% of biometric survey over, construction to start soon

■ Deadline | 7 years

Tenants2,480

Total construction cost of three BDD Chawls

`16,000cr

Initial funds provided by Mhada

`2,500cr

Mhada to provide

2,000 transit tenements when redevelopment starts

Number of fl ats for sale

8,210

Chandrashekhar Prabhu | URBAN PLANNER, FORMER MHADA PRESIDENT

Mumbai: A developer fromsouth Mumbai who alleged-ly forged the conveyance de-ed of a UK resident to pur-chase trust property nowworth Rs 50 crore was on Fri-day arrested by the MRAMarg Police.

Hifzur Rehman Ansari ofOkay Estate Developers wasproduced before the BallardPier metropolitan magistra-te who remanded him in poli-ce custody till October 9.

Following Rehman’s ar-rest, police have launched asearch for the other accused.Mumbai collector AshwiniJoshi has ordered an FIR tobe filed in the case.

A deed of conveyance isthe legal transfer of owners-hip rights of an immovableproperty. Based on the forgeddeed, the accused got the pro-perty registered. It is manda-tory for the owner to be pre-sent along with identifica-tion proof. In this case, it ap-pears Rehman got someoneto impersonate as the owner.

According to the MRAMarg Police, in 2010, Reh-man, who knew Sikander Lo-ladiya, told him he was plan-ning to purchase a cessed bu-ilding at Duncan Road na-med ‘Raja Bahadur’ from atrust and he had plans to re-develop it. The property with124 tenants was up for sale foraround Rs 8 crore.

Ansari allegedly roped inLoladiya and a few others in-to a joint venture by luringthem with the promise of lu-crative returns on the deal.“Five investors namely OkayDevelopers, Loladiya, Mo-hammed Patel, Ezaj Patka

and Farhad Supariwala ca-me together and bought theproperty from the seventrustees of Chasa MuslimWelfare Society,” said a poli-ce officer. Social worker As-lam Shaikh filed a writ befo-re Bombay high court alle-ging the building was a pub-lic trust property and theaccused had acquired it thro-ugh foul means.

Shaikh subsequentlywithdrew the plea and appro-ached the collector, who or-dered a probe. This raisedthe suspicions of the other

investors. Loladiya, who hadpumped in Rs70 lakh, tracedtrustee, Ahmed AlibhaiMakda, based in London andwent to meet him, said Sha-ikh’s advocate MohiuddinVaid. Makda gave an affida-vit and other supporting do-cuments claiming he had notsigned any such conveyancedeed. He further said he hadnot visited India since long.

Makda also submitted acomplaint seeking to regis-ter an offence against unk-nown persons for imperso-nating him and forging pro-perty documents.

“We found Ansari hadsubmitted bogus documents,including a cheque payment,made to Makda,” said seniorinspector Sukhlal Varpe.

SoBo bldr ‘forges’document, grabs`̀50cr property

Ahmed.Ali@timesgroup.com

ROW OVER REALTY

Mumbai: The Bombay HighCourt on Friday directed thestate government to hurry andconstitute the authorities un-der the Wetlands (Conserva-tion and Management) Rules2017, instead of waiting for thethree-month time-frame allo-wed under the rules.

“You first come out with yo-ur committees,” said a bench ofChief Justice Manjula Chellurand Justice Nitin Jamdar, afterit was informed by additionalgovernment pleader G W Mat-tos that the 2017 rules, notifiedon September 26, allow forthree months to appoint vario-us authorities, including a grie-vance redressal mechanism(GRM) committee. The courtheard a public interest litiga-tion by NGO Vanshakti regar-ding non-implementation ofWetland Rules 2010 in Maha-rashtra. Wetlands includemarshy areas, estuaries, cre-eks, ponds, reservoirs, lakesand other water bodies.

On March 10, 2014 the HChad directed a total ban on re-clamation and construction onwetlands in Maharashtra andprompt action against viola-tors. But the NGO subsequent-ly told it that wetlands andmangroves continue to be dest-royed. In February 2017 the co-urt said the “state governmentshould equally consider the in-terests of citizens as it consi-ders the interests of builders”and must “ruthlessly” stop en-croachment on wetlands.

Mattos said the state go-vernment has prepared a brief

document earmarking wet-lands geographically as con-templated under the 2010 Rules.“Since they are superseded bythe 2017 rules, the governmentwill need the time of one year toprepare it in accordance withthe new rules,’’ he said, addingthat following the new rules,“nothing survives in this PIL”.

Advocate for an intervener,whose paddy field has been in-cluded in the wetlands catego-ry, urged the court to decide hismatter as an order had beenpassed by the additional com-missioner, Konkan division.The judges said he must chal-lenge the order separately asthe court cannot decide it in aPIL. Mattos said, “Those landswhich are shown included un-der wetlands can go” before theGRM committee.

It was then that the benchsaid the government must firstappoint the different authoriti-es, including committees, wit-hout waiting for three monthsand must constitute them asearly as possible. The state go-vernment was asked to informwhat was the progress on cons-titution of the authorities at thenext hearing.

Set up panels onwetlands fast, HC

tells state govtRosy.Sequeira@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Former chief mini-ster Narayan Rane is likely toenter the state cabinet afterhis newly formed party, Maha-rashtra Swabhimani Party(MSP), extended support toNarendra Modi-led NDA.

Rane was to be inducted in-to the state cabinet on October6, but as he had not decided onextending support to theNDA, he was not sworn in as acabinet member. “Rane wasassured of a cabinet berth.However, it was delayed be-cause Rane was undecided onsupporting NDA. We expectthat he will be inducted intothe state cabinet after Diwa-li,’’ a senior BJP leader said.

While Rane floated his par-ty on October 1, on Friday hedeclared his support to theNDA. “I had a meeting withchief minister Devendra Fad-navis on October 4. Fadnavishad asked me to consider sup-porting NDA. Now we have de-cided to extend unconditionalsupport to NDA. It is for theCM to take a decision on myinduction into the cabinet,’’Rane said in his hometownSindhudurg. Rane is expec-ting the coveted revenue port-folio. A day after the entireSindhudurg Congress com-mittee and district panels we-re dissolved by state Congresschief Ashok Chavan, Rane onSeptember 21 quit the Cong-ress on the grounds that hewas taken for a ride by Cong-ress chief Sonia Gandhi andher aide Ahmed Patel over hisselection as the CM duringCongress rule.

Rane says I’mjoining NDA;

cabinet berthafter Diwali?

Prafulla.Marpakwar@timesgroup.com

Navi Mumbai: A resident of Ka-mothe , Satish Bochare (38), re-cently lost Rs 62,000 to, what thepolice said, could be a credit cardskimming fraud. The amountwas taken in four different trans-actions on September 27 beforeBochare got the card blocked.

His police complaint says thathe got a text alert on his phone aro-und 8.30 pm about Rs 1,179 beingdebited to his account, followed bymore messages for higher amo-unts. By the time, he contacted thebank, transactions for Rs 62,000had been carried out.

The police said Bochare’s carddata was possibly stolen by askimmer device at some ATMwhere he might have withdrawncash. A criminal offence has beenregistered. —George Mendonca

Man loses ̀̀ 60kto credit card

‘skimming’ con

AHyderabad police teamprobing the case of childbride married off to

Arab sheikhs has seized mar-riage recordsfor the last 27years duringraids conduc-ted in Mumbaion Friday.

“We aretranslating theUrdu records seized from theoffice of Fareed AhmedKhan, a chief qazi in Mum-bai, since 1990. Preliminaryinvestigation reveals that 15-20 marriages of minor girlsfrom Hyderabad with Arabsheikhs were solemnized andthe nikahnamas were issuedillegally,” said DCP (south zo-ne) V Satyanarayana.

Shockingly, said police, in1992, Khan Fareed had perfor-med two marriages of a Om-ani citizen on a single day.

On October 3, the first additional metropolitan sessions court extended the police custody of Khan,his deputy Munawar Ali and travel agent identified on-ly as Ahmed and they werethen brought to Mumbai by apolice team.

Child bride row:27 years’ recordsseized from city

qazi’s officeTIMES NEWS NETWORK

Navi Mumbai: A conductoremployed with the Navi Mum-bai Municipal Transport, Bal-krushna Patil (40), died afterbeing run over by a bus at theBelapur depot on Wednesday.

Bus driver Malappa Pooja-ry (32) was arrested by the Be-lapur police and a case has be-en registered against him. TNN

Bus crushesconductor