BMC to get 600 free flats from slum rehab project on Juhu plot: BJP

The 48,407-square feet plot, which currently houses staff quarters for BMC’s sanitation workers and some slum tenements, is reserved for a civic staff colony

Mumbai: Two days after the Congress alleged that a prime plot in Juhu worth ₹800 crore was handed over to a builder with close links to the BJP under the guise of a slum rehabilitation project, Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam on Wednesday said the proposed project would benefit the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad, however, claimed the decision would result in a loss of at least ₹240 crore

BMC to get 600 free flats from slum rehab project on Juhu plot: BJP

“The BMC had planned to construct 479 homes on the plot under the Aashray scheme, at a cost of ₹140 crore. But if the plot is added to the SRA (SLum Rehabilitation Authority) project, it will stand to receive 600 houses at no cost,” Satam said on Wednesday.

The 48,407-square feet plot, which currently houses staff quarters for BMC’s sanitation workers and some slum tenements, is reserved for a civic staff colony.

On Monday, Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad alleged that the plot was being illegally handed over to a builder close to the BJP under the guise of a slum rehabilitation project. The proposal to amalgamate the plot with an ongoing slum rehabilitation project was approved within four days, despite the BMC having appointed a contractor to redevelop the existing staff quarters, Gaikwad alleged. The BMC subsequently denied the allegations.

On Wednesday, Satam claimed the integration of the plot with the slum rehabilitation project would benefit 86 sanitation workers who had been deemed ineligible for rehabilitation under the redevelopment scheme and were at risk of becoming homeless.

Satam also claimed that a slum rehabilitation project on the same plot was approved in 2008, with a Congress MLA as the promoter. The Enforcement Directorate’s probe against DHFL chief promoters, Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, covered the project, owing to which it was stalled for several years, he alleged.

“The central agency lifted the stay on the project last year, after which a new developer was appointed through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under an amnesty scheme. The new developer requested the BMC to integrate the plot into an existing slum rehabilitation project covering four other adjoining plots,” Satam said.

The BMC is yet to take a final decision on the developer’s proposal, said sources in the civic body.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Varsha Gaikwad alleged that the BMC’s deputy chief engineer (improvements) had warned that the civic body would lose the plot if the slum rehabilitation project was approved.

“On July 9, the deputy chief engineer (improvements) issued a written warning, saying if the proposal was accepted, the BMC would have to hand over ownership of this ₹1,200-crore plot to the SRA under the recently amended section 15(A) of the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971,” Gaikwad said a post on social media platform X.

She also shared a copy of the letter to back her claim.

The BMC would also lose more than 80,000 square feet of construction area if the proposal was approved, the letter warned. Gaikwad claimed this would result in a loss of at least ₹240 crore, based on conservative estimates.