Haji Noorani Chawl residents finally start moving out

While eight families packed up their belongings and left, three families have still refused to do so. The move has been necessitated due to the construction of a pillar for the Sewri-Worli Elevated Corridor

Mumbai: After a months-long stand-off with the authorities, most families living in Haji Noorani Chawl outside Prabhadevi railway station started vacating the premises on Tuesday. While eight families packed up their belongings and left, three families have still refused to do so. The move has been necessitated due to the construction of a pillar for the Sewri-Worli Elevated Corridor.

Mumbai, India - May 5, 2026: Shopkeppers and resident evacuate Haji Noorani Chawl at Prabhadevi, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Haji Noorani Chawl is one of the two buildings the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) acquired for the east-west road link. The first was Laxmi Niwas outside Prabhadevi railway station. On Tuesday, commercial establishments were seen tearing down furniture and other belongings to sell as scrap, and residents started moving their belongings.

The three families who have refused to move have been encroachers on the building’s premises for some decades now. As the MMRDA increased pressure on the residents to vacate their homes, these three families also sought alternate tenements. Vilas Vaidya, a member of one of the three families, told HT, “We have been informed by MMRDA that our premises are not required to be acquired. Therefore, no alternative accommodation was made available for us.”

Demolition of Laxmi Sadan, the other building required for constructing the elevated corridor, started on March 27. Acquisition of these two buildings has witnessed intense drama for a year. During this time, residents prevented MMRDA from shutting down the Elphinstone Road flyover in April 2025. Eventually, the bridge was closed to traffic from September 12, 2025.

MMRDA’s initial plan was to acquire 19 buildings outside Elphinstone Road station to create space for the infrastructure project’s pillars. This was later reduced to two buildings - Laxmi Sadan and Haji Noorani Chawl. Both structures are needed to erect pillars for the double decker bridge at this stretch of the Sewri - Worli Elevated Corridor. Last year, MMRDA had announced a deadline of December 2026 to ready the double decker flyover of the larger 4.5 km project that promises to improve east-west connectivity in this part of Mumbai. The plan is to directly link the Bandra-Worli Sea Link with Atal Setu, at a cost of over ₹1,000 crore.