Malad East Chawl redevelopment project stuck from past 27 years.

By Abhay Shah, Realty Quarter

In one of the worst redevelopment cases, 10 families in a chawl in Malad East are still waiting to take possession of their tenements 27 years after the chawl is vacated for redevelopment.

The families have now brought their petition to the City Civil Court in Dindoshi for the violation of the consent terms and conditions signed in July 2018 against the developer Damodar S Mudaliar of Web India Construction. They also lodged a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing, which asked the promoter to indict them for cheating.

Under their petition, Mudaliar, a local developer, bought the Baijabai Chawl from the owner in 1987 and contacted chawl inhabitants for redevelopment.

In 1990, Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) was given by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and a Certificate of Beginnings was issued in 1992, to build a ground-plus-two structure.

In 1992, he took the chawl vacant and shifted the inhabitant’s to Bhadran Bhuvan on rent, a private property owned in Malad East by Haresh Patel.

Chandrika Patel, a 60-year-old, one of the victims said the developer signed an agreement with the Bhadran Bhuva landlord and was supposed to pay him the rent directly.

The building was almost accomplished in 1994-1995, but the builder did not meet the criteria for an occupation certificate, he said. Mudaliar allegedly held the ten families in a transit camp and proceeded to make fake assurances.

Another tenant, Nila Rupareliya, 62-year-old, said the builder was contracting unauthorized externals, without a legal BMC OC.  He did not pay complete rent for transit housing between 1992 and 2018 to the landlord, who in 2008 lodged a case against the builder demanding unpaid rent and vacating his estate, she said. The same year, she informed, the ten families filed a complaint against the builder seeking possession.

In 2018, the transit camp owner received a favourable decision from the Bombay High Court, which instructed Mudaliar to pay Rs 1.20 crore outstanding rent in installments and advised the families to vacate the premises.

The families approached Mudaliar again, as there was no home to go to. The developer issued consent conditions in July 2018 agreeing to grant them possession of 172 sqft carpet area tenements within 36 months from the date of obtaining the BMC’s fresh commencement certificate. Also, the developer decided to pay Rs 11,000 rent per month.