After 7 years, BMC restarts Topiwala Market redevelopment

After being in limbo since 2017, the redevelopment of Topiwala Market in Goregaon West near Goregaon railway station has kicked off

Mumbai: After being in limbo since 2017, the redevelopment of Topiwala Market in Goregaon West near Goregaon railway station has kicked off with the BMC floating a ₹ 151-crore tender.

The proposed redeveloped of Topiwala Market will include a market, auditorium and residences

The ground plus 16 storey building is being designed by architect Shashi Prabhu and Associates. Two contractors have changed hands over the years due to inordinate delays in the project.

The new market will be a mixed-use building with vegetable vendors on ground plus one floor, followed by floors reserved for parking podium, an 800-seater auditorium for drama and theatre and residential floors for doctors of a new hospital that is being planned in Goregaon.

A civic official told HT that in 2014 there were approximately 79 licensed vendors on the ground floor with various sheds in a dilapidated condition but they refused to vacate. The redevelopment process started and the BMC issued a work order.

In 2016-17, BMC issued the tender to Sheth Constructions. They started the work but vendors were not cooperating with the contractor and the court issued a stay that lasted one and half years. The tender cost was around ₹ 125 crore then.

The contractor had laid the foundation and erected columns. The vendors were shifted to the road and space allocated to them. But because the contractor was unable to start work for 2.5 years he wanted unlimited escalation on the rates quoted previously, said the civic official, adding the BMC did not agree to this and the work was foreclosed.

“The previous tender was prepared as per 2013 rates and now the tender has been called as per 2023 rate. It is now a ₹ 151-crore tender. The bids were to be opened on June 8 but due to variation in rates we will give a corrigendum and open the bids on June 28. The delay was mainly because our staff was on election duty,” said the official.

An architect from Shashi Prabhu and Associates in-charge of the project said, “All the existing licensees will get more area than they had in the existing market. There is a parking podium above the market level. Above that we have given an auditorium for theatre and drama with 800 plus seats. Then there is a recreation floor for the residential part which is the staff quarters for the doctors of a hospital coming up at Goregaon.”

Managing and coordinating the services and accommodating 206 existing licensees was the biggest challenge in designing this mixed-use building, he said.