Gaothan residents refuse to give up land for BMC's project

The residents of the gaothan at Sherly Rajan Road in Bandra West are not happy with the BMC's decision to concretise the 700-metre-long stretch, for which many have been asked to part with a portion of their land. The land has been part of their property for 100 years. Some of the residents who are opposing the project approached Ashish Shelar, BJP's Mumbai president on Friday hoping to save it.

Civic officials said that as part of the Rs 7 crore project, the road's current width, which ranges from 8-10 metres, will be uniformly widened to 13.5 metres. Apart from concretising the road, the project also includes installation of storm-water drains in the area to prevent flooding during the monsoon. The road connects Pali Mala Road to DP Road near Rizvi College.

While civic officials from H West ward said that the project had been taken up to avoid bottlenecks in the area, 70-year-old Elizabeth D'Souza said, "There is no heavy traffic on this road and this area has never had the problem of water-logging either. The road is currently not in a good condition and the BMC can fix that. We are not against development, but there is no need for a concrete road in a residential area."

Another resident, Anil Iyer, joint secretary of Virgo Villa, a six-storeyed building that houses 17 families, said they will lose their parking space if the BMC acquires a portion of their land. "If they take our parking space, where will we park our vehicles? People will have to park on the road," he said.

When asked about the Transfer Development Rights (TDR) offered as incentive by the BMC, D'Souza said that none of them wanted it. "How can the BMC just take away our land? We don't want their incentive. Personally, I don't want my grandchildren's inheritance to be touched," she said.

A delegation of a few of the residents met Shelar and submitted a signature petition, which included 110 signatures from the gaothan residents. Neil Pereira, an activist and member of the Pali Gaothan East Indian Residents Association, said, "Sherly Rajan Road is a quiet and small road in a gaothan. Its quaint, peaceful nature is a rarity, which needs to be preserved and enhanced. The road-widening will disrupt the lives of the gaothan residents."

Shelar assured them that the old gaothan structures will not be touched. When contacted, he said, "I have sent a representation of the issues raised by the residents to the BMC and will ensure that the existing road will be improved by not taking any setback."

The H West ward issued notices to around 10 such owners earlier this month. When contacted, Sharad Ugade, assistant municipal commissioner of H West ward, said, "There are traffic issues in the area and we are going to improve the road by concretising it. The notices that have been issued are for acquiring open setback areas only."

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