BMC stop-work notice hits Bombay Dyeing, DLF hardest

Last Friday, the BMC issued a stop-work notice to 12 mills, which it found had flouted rules listed for the redevelopment of mill land for commercial gain.

Last Friday, the BMC issued a stop-work notice to 12 mills, which it found had flouted rules listed for the redevelopment of mill land for commercial gain.

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Two of the big-ticket private projects expected to be hardest hit by this notice are the Bombay Dyeing and DLF Group residential projects.

Bombay Dyeing's Springs 1 project - to build on its Dadar mill land 150 upper-end residential flats priced at twice the area's existing rates - has been mired in controversy for some time now. This notice is more bad news for its buyers who have booked flats three years ago.

"We were supposed to get possession of our flat in December 2008. That got pushed back to July 2009, now they don't even give us a date," said a businessman who booked a flat there in 2006.

Last December, 25 of the buyers even petitioned industrialists Ratan Tata and Keshub Mahindra, who serve as directors in Bombay Dyeing.

Durgesh Mehta, chief financial officer, Bombay Dyeing, said: "The delay has been outside our control but we are doing our best to redress buyers' grievances." He said keys of the flats will be given shortly but refused to give a time frame.

The DLF project at Lower Parel, has seen changes in its plans several times since 2005 when it purchased the plot. Currently, all construction activity has been suspended. The civic notice was in response to the failure of the National Textile Corporation, the original owners of the mill, to withdraw cases against commercial establishments in the premises.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Rajeev Talwar, its executive director said he has not got any BMC notices.

“We have still not started our work and are making plans,” he said.