Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment: Many roads were encroached upon, says complainant

Arafat Siddique (Lakdawala), complainant

The Hind Sena Foundation, a Memonwada-based organisation, has claimed to be one of the complainants against the Bhendi Bazaar cluster redevelopment project saying many lanes are being encroached upon in the guise of redevelopment and the entrance to the Dhanbadi Masjid near Chor Bazaar is being blocked. The BMC has stalled the project citing residents' complaints over changes in the plan and concerns over the quality of work.

Arafat Siddique (Lakdawala), the Foundation's general secretary, said, "For many months, I have been writing letters to the chief minister about the irregularities in the SBUT project and now the BMC has come across the same irregularities that were mentioned in my complaint letters and has issued a stop-work notice to them."

Also read: Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project: Residents demand for 'irregularities'

The complainant says people can't access one entrance of the Dhanbadi Masjid due to the project

In his complaints to the BMC in April and July, he wrote, "SBUT has encroached/captured street no. 94, Saifee Jubilee Street by installing big blue tin sheets on both sides of the road. In such a way that the blue tin sheets are also completely blocking the entrance of religious places [Dhanbadi Mosque] and people coming from the Nagpada side are unable to enter the Mosque and the helpless people have to go all the way around from Mohammed Ali Road to come to the Masjid which is causing a lot of inconvenience to the people as it is wasting a lot of time & energy [sic]."

A BMC official spoke off the record: "The trustees of Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust [SBUT] which is executing the project replaced Tricon as the project's contractor and hired a local contractor. Residents in their complaints alleged that the trustees also changed the layout of the plan. Residents have raised concerns over the quality of work."

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on August 24 announced in the Assembly that the BMC would probe the project. He said that the original plan was changed, the width of roads reduced and more area was given to developers. Three days later, the stop-work notice came.

SBUT has maintained that there have been no irregularities in the layout. "The work has been carried out as per the plans approved. The entire project has been planned as per the provisions of Development Control Regulations 33 [9] and is being carried out in line with the approvals and permissions of all concerned authorities. The Trust will continue to cooperate with MCGM [BMC] and other government authorities while they review the matter," an SBUT spokesperson had said.

July 2022
Month foundation sent last plaint