Mumbai University's Kalina campus in encroachment row once again

The public notice ad by SRA for the proposed redevelopment plan on the varsity’s land

University of Mumbai's Kalina campus is again facing an encroachment controversy after the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) proposed a plan on a 2.29-acre land belonging to the varsity. The issue came to light after a varsity senate member, in a meeting on Thursday, presented a public notice advertisement by the SRA informing about the proposed plan and inviting objections, if any. The varsity administration has challenged the proposed plan.

As mentioned in the public notice dated June 30, 2021, SRA has proposed a redevelopment plan on an area of 9,300 square metres or 2.29 acres which has jhuggis and other slum constructions. Baliram Gaikwad, registrar of the varsity, said, "We have objected to the proposed SRA development plan. While a letter of objection was sent within 30 days from the public notice as per the procedure, a legal notice has also been sent to SRA."

A signboard on the redevelopment project

Talking about the issue, senate member Pradeep Sawant said, "It is unfortunate that the varsity administration ignored the growing slums in the land for so long, but it is worse that the administration had to wait for the public notice to take action on this encroachment."

MU officials on condition of anonymity said the university administration was advised to build a fencing wall around the land after it was evacuated in 2008, but it decided to wait for complete evacuation. Meanwhile, administrations changed and the issue got buried, while the slum continued to grow. The dwellers have now formed a society and approached SRA for redevelopment.

When contacted, SRA CEO Satish Lokhande said, "Mumbai University has submitted its objection in writing, but nobody from varsity was present for the hearing on the matter. We have scheduled another hearing." He added, "For any SRA project, this is a standard practice. After the slum dwellers form society, they propose redevelopment. A public notice is put up accordingly to know of any objection. If the objection raised by the varsity is proven, the project will not move ahead."