Revamp of prime 32-acre Kala Chowkie plot in Mumbai stuck

Allege federation has vested interests, refuse to select builder

The redevelopment of one of South Central Mumbai’s largest residential plots may have a rough road ahead.

There are 3,410 tenants living in the 47 buildings, making this one of the largest plots of land in South Central Mumbai to go for redevelopment.(For representation)

Several residents of the 32-acre Abhudaya Nagar near Kala Chowkie have not taken part in the selection of the builder, with some of them alleging office-bearers of the Abhudaya Federation were favouring the developer who has emerged as the front-runner to redevelop the colony.

The residents claim the federation has vested interests and was derailing the scheme. The federation has contested the claim.

There are 3,410 tenants living in the 47 buildings, making this one of the largest plots of land in South Central Mumbai to go for redevelopment.

Sources said if the revamp gets underway, not only will the existing residents shift out to bigger homes from their current 200sqft apartments, but it will also add to the overall housing supply, as a portion of the redeveloped homes will be given to the state housing authority to be sold as affordable houses.

“We are getting the best deal of 684 sqft houses and a corpus fund of Rs8 lakh-Rs10 lakh. But some elements are trying to scuttle the process, as the very selection of the builder, scheduled to be completed in six months, took 25 months owing to litigations by these people,” said Nadu Katkar, the federation’s president. “Many residents in these 16 structures want to take part , but are prevented by some office-bearers,” he added.

Keystone Realty was chosen for the project, after 26 of the 47 buildings selected the group. It still needs 70% consent of the all residents to take the proposed redevelopment off the ground. This will take another two to three years. The process is just getting started, said Stanley Palana, former president of the federation. “Any redevelopment takes time, and here we have such a huge plot, hence the delay.”

But Prasad Ghagre, joint secretary, Brihanmumbai Bhadekaru Parishad, said the entire process is faulty. “The federation has no legal entity and has just declared Keystone as the builder. The process lacks transparency and people are being misguided.”

Four builders were shortlisted — Keystone Realty, Ornate Builders, Dynamix Realty and Omkar Realtors and Builders Limited. Of these, Keystone has been the front runner, with 26 buildings under its belt, followed by Ornate, favoured by four.