Ashish Shelar gets coveted Malabar Hill bungalow

Minister Ashish Shelar moves to a luxurious British-era bungalow at Malabar Hill, previously occupied by retired IAS officer Praveen Pardeshi.

MUMBAI: An iconic bungalow, a British-era beauty that sits atop the Malabar Hill reservoir, has been allotted to minister for culture and information technology, Ashish Shelar, who believed the more modest accommodation he had been assigned was not suited to him. Shelar’s request for the plush bungalow in one of Mumbai’s most upscale addresses was granted on Tuesday.

Ashish Shelar. (ANI Photo) (Deepak Salvi )

Shelar, who was assigned the ‘B2’ at Nariman Point, will move into the sprawling ‘hydraulic engineers bungalow’ at Malabar Hill. He swaps places with retired IAS officer, Praveen Pardeshi, who is CEO of the state government’s think tank, MITRA (Maharashtra Institution for Transformation).

The hydraulic engineer’s bungalow has always been one of the most sought-after bungalows by ministers and bureaucrats. The property, right next to the famous Hanging Gardens, is enveloped in greenery and offers amazing views of the Queens Necklace on Marine Drive.

The bungalow is located atop the ageing Malabar Hill reservoir, which is in urgent need of repairs. An earlier municipal commissioner had said the entire structure, built in colonial times, would come crashing down if it was not repaired. Standing in the way of this are the bungalow’s high-profile occupants.

Then, in 2014, the state broke tradition and allotted the bungalow to Pravin Darade, then secretary to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Darade claimed the coveted accommodation on grounds that his wife Pallavee was an IRS officer – additional municipal commissioner (education). It was the first time the bungalow was assigned to an official outside the BMC.

This didn’t go down well with then municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, who famously said the bungalow needed to be demolished to enable repairs to the ageing reservoir beneath. But Darade refused to vacate.

When the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance government was in power, one part of the bungalow was assigned to Aslam Shaikh, fisheries and port development minister. When Shaikh vacated, the bungalow was allotted to additional municipal commissioner (projects) Shravan Hardikar, but this order was cancelled and, in 2022, Pardeshi moved in. The decision kicked up a storm among IAS officers on grounds that Pardeshi held a post-retirement position. No one paid heed. On Tuesday, Pardeshi was told to move out, to make way for Shelar.

The other half of this bungalow is occupied by additional municipal commissioner (projects) Abhijit Bangar.

Civic activist Zoru Bhathena couldn’t resist a sarcastic jab. He posted on X.com, “The only structurally stressed area (of Malabar Hill reservoir) was part-holding up the Municipal Bungalow. Stressed in 2017 & never repaired thereafter (the high-ranking occupants always refused to vacate for repairs) MyBMC planning a splash for Minister Shelar?’’

Bhathena added, “All top agencies like IIT Mumbai and VJTI have stressed that the structural members of the reservoir on which the BMC bungalow is standing need to be repaired on an urgent basis. It is a major repair.’’