Chawl razed instead of shaky building

Owner of the chawl says move was premeditated, as the builder sought to grab extra space; FIR registered

Mumbai: A developer who was tasked to bring down a dilapidated building in Kandivali, marked in the C-1 category by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), unlawfully demolished a chawl adjacent to it last month.

The civic body had declared the Shiv Mahal Society, on Mathuradas Road, Kandivali West, dangerous for habitation on August 25 and ordered its demolition. However, to the dismay of Devi Bhuvan Chawl residents, their nine houses were bulldozed by the developer, rendering them homeless, on December 19. (HT PHOTO)

An FIR was registered against the developer, M Maitri Siya Enterprises, by the owner of the chawl as well as tenants at Kandivali police station on December 27.

The civic body had declared the Shiv Mahal Society, on Mathuradas Road, Kandivali West, dangerous for habitation on August 25 and ordered its demolition. However, to the dismay of Devi Bhuvan Chawl residents, their nine houses were bulldozed by the developer, rendering them homeless, on December 19.

Dinkar Jadhav, senior police inspector, Kandivali police station, confirmed the FIR and said the case has been shifted to Dindoshi court. Police are yet to track down the culprit.

A tenant of the razed chawl Raj Kaushik Bhadreshwara’s family have been residents of the chawl since the last 45 years. Bhadreshwara said, “The developer sought police protection for demolition of Shiv Mahal and vacated us on December 19. He had stationed six bouncers close by. We still have no access to our belongings which are under the debris.” He added that the bouncers have not yet been removed by the police and neither has the developer been arrested. As a stop-gap arrangement, the family had put up at a friend’s home till Monday but has now shifted to a rented room in the same suburb “paying ₹15,000, a month”.

“The developer vacated the chawl at the behest of BMC, purportedly to safeguard the lives of the residents on December 17. He used this modus operandi to clear out the premises for good,” he said.

His neighbour, Anil Baing used the space in the chawl to make Ganesha idols. He has suffered much monetary loss as his workshop and equipment are both gone. “All our belongings are lost. I have incurred a loss of ₹15 lakh on raw materials,” said Baing.

Owner of the chawl, Parth Mehta, bought the place in 2017, along with a friend, for ₹1.80 crore. After the purchase, he rented out all the nine rooms.

“I hold the redevelopment rights of the chawl, as an owner. But since Shiv Mahal building fell under the C-1 category, the occupants of the chawl were asked to vacate their rooms for safety,” said Mehta.

BMC had notified the residents about the demolition of the neighbouring building and urged occupants of the chawl to vacate their homes from 10am till 6pm for safety when the work would be carried out.

“The builders’ intention was crystal clear – he was eyeing our chawl and kept the BMC and police in the loop. However, on BMC’s assurance that no harm would befall our chawl, the occupants vacated their places. And then, in two hours all the nine rooms were illegally demolished,” added Mehta.

Seven rooms were demolished on December 17 and three days later, the other two rooms were also razed. Thereafter, the civic body wrote to the Kandivali police station stating that the developer had written to them seeking police clearance to demolish Shiv Mahal, as it was declared dangerous.

“BMC had issued a letter to residents to temporarily vacate the houses so that they do not suffer any loss of life or money. But they informed that their houses were demolished instead of the precarious building. The developer has demolished the chawl without any permission from BMC,” said a civic official from R South Ward, in Kandivali, who wrote to police directing them to take further action against the builder.

Lalit Talekar, acting assistant commissioner, R South Ward, confirmed the course of events. Hindustan Times has a copy of the letter.

Santosh Daundkar, an RTI activist, said that an FIR against the developer will not suffice and that action should be taken against the acting assistant commissioner of the ward for misuse of powers and for criminal conspiracy by allowing the demolition of the chawl. “Civic officials present at the site didn’t stop the demolition, which means they were hand-in-glove with the guilty party,” said Daundkar.

Despite HT’s efforts to get in touch with him, the developer remained unavailable.