Bombay HC Seeks Answers on 20-Year Delay in Wadala Redevelopment Project

By Sana Khan | Editor

The Bombay High Court has directed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to probe the delay in execution of a slum rehabilitation scheme in Wadala West, which has remained incomplete for nearly 20 years, and to inform the court when it will be completed.

“It cannot be that SRA schemes on public land are executed with such laxity and that too for 20 years being already spent in implementing the scheme,”
observed a bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe.

The direction came after the court disposed of a petition filed by Sitabai Kolambkar and Wadala Village Welfare CHS Ltd, seeking to quash an April 2024 order passed by the Joint Registrar (Cooperative Department, SRA). The petitioners had requested transit rent at the current market rate, as per the June 2015 SRA circular, which provides for a 5% annual increase in rent until permanent alternative accommodation is provided by the developer.

During the hearing, the bench noted that the development agreement was not part of the record. It directed the competent authority of the SRA to determine the issue of entitlement to transit rent based on the terms of the development agreement or, if unspecified, in line with the 2015 circular.

The court also took note that the land in question belongs to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). It stated that the BMC Commissioner, as the owner of the land, “cannot be a mute spectator”, and must coordinate with the SRA CEO to ensure that the project progresses.

“The BMC Commissioner shall coordinate with the SRA CEO and place on record the status in respect of the municipal land in regard to the slum development,”

the court said, directing both officials to file a compliance report by November 17, 2025.

The project is being developed by Merit Magnum Construction (formerly known as Vimal Builders). The judges have asked the SRA to consider the submissions of both the society and the developer, along with the original development agreement, and take a final decision “as expeditiously as possible and within four weeks.”

“This will include all the essentials in relation to factors delaying the scheme,”
the court added, emphasizing that such extensive delays in rehabilitation schemes must be fully investigated.

The order is seen as a crucial step toward ensuring transparency and accountability in Mumbai’s long-stalled slum redevelopment projects, where residents have been waiting for permanent homes for nearly two decades.