Govt steps in, ‘Shanti Upvan’ residents to get redeveloped building

The 250 families of ‘Shanti Upvan’, who became homeless overnight after cracks appeared in the building last week, got some relief on Wednesday when most of them were allowed to retrieve their belongings from their homes and were given an assurance by the developer that the building would be redeveloped

Dombivli: The 250 families of ‘Shanti Upvan’, who became homeless overnight after cracks appeared in the building last week, got some relief on Wednesday when most of them were allowed to retrieve their belongings from their homes and were given an assurance by the developer that the building would be redeveloped. The residents will be paid transit rent till the new building is completed.

Kalyan, India - March 08, 2023: Residents of Shanti Upvan building collect their belongings and valuables as KDMC allows them on the fifth day after one of its five wings in the Lodha Heaven Complex developed visible cracks and parts of the base began caving in and they had to vacate the building, at Nilje, in Dombivli, India, on Wednesday, March 08, 2023. (Photo by Pramod Tambe/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde, who is CM Eknath Shinde’s son, intervened in the matter and held a meeting with Kalyan-Dombivli municipal commissioner Bhausaheb Dandage, developer Rajendra Lodha and some residents at the KDMC headquarters. Emerging from the meeting, Shinde said, “The developer claimed that the building was handed over long ago and it was the society’s responsibility to maintain it. However, we have held him responsible. He has agreed to redevelop all five wings.”

The KDMC deferred its plan to demolish the extremely dangerous F wing on Wednesday and allowed the residents in all five wings to retrieve their belongings from their flats. The scene was chaotic, with tempos and trucks arriving and families running around to find rented homes nearby. In the melee, Jai Singh, 45, complained that a labourer tried to snatch her gold chain. The culprit was caught and bashed up by the residents before being handed over to the police.

Sandeep Patil, an architect whose PIL in the Bombay high court had exposed the scam of fake commencement certificates obtained by 67 buildings to get registration from MahaRERA last year, said, “I would hold KDMC equally responsible for what happened in Shanti Upvan. The corporation is supposed to regularly seek structural audit reports from buildings, especially potentially dangerous ones, but it completely ignores this aspect. Its focus is instead on helping developers vacate buildings they want by declaring them dangerous.”

Shriniwas Ghanekar of NGO Jagruk Nagrik Foundation said that the problem of substandard buildings dated back to the 1980s and 1990s when the middle class migrated from Mumbai to Thane and Kalyan Dombivli. “There was a high demand for housing, and overnight newly minted ‘developers’ sprung up to seize the opportunity,” he said. “The construction quality was substandard and there was also a rash of illegal constructions.”

Ghanekar filed a public interest litigation in 2004 against the illegal constructions in Kalyan-Dombivli and a five-member committee chaired by retired judge A S Aguiar was appointed to look into it. “Despite the high court orders that ward officials should be personally held liable, and the commissioner should take action and submit a report to the HC, no action was eventually taken against these people,” he said.

CASE STUDIES

Desperately seeking accommodation

Meena Chaudhari and her two children, after moving to a nearby temple, are now staying with her friend. “We are looking for a room nearby to rent,” she said. “It will cost us ₹6,000 to ₹10,000.” The family bought the flat in F wing of Shanti Upvan in 2011 for ₹11 lakh. The loan they took to buy the flat has been repaid. “Till we get our redeveloped homes in three years, it’s going to be a battle, as living on rent is not easy too,” said Chaudhari.

Pets hungry for five days

On Wednesday, while many were busy retrieving their possessions, Sapna Singh, 36, was pensive. The door of her F wing flat was jammed but she was more worried about her pet birds and fish who had not been fed for five days.

Singh’s family has found a room on rent in a nearby complex for ₹14,000 but even now she, along with her family, spends her entire time waiting for her pets and belongings to be retrieved from Shanti Upvan.

Life’s savings gone into flat

Retired Indian Navy employee Braj Kishor Singh, 54, invested most of his savings in his F wing flat in Shanti Upvan, paying ₹8 lakh for it in 2009. “Like any other middle-class family, buying this flat was a dream come true for us,” he said. “There are so many memories attached to it. Now that we don’t have it, it is very painful. We have found a rental place for ₹10,000 but we cannot stop ourselves from coming to Shanti Upvan, as we still belong to this place.”