In another incident of face-off between the Center and the Maharashtra government, the Center refused to accept a proposal of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on the redevelopment of the pre-independence era Bombay Development Department (BDD) chawl at Sewri Is. , which is located on land owned by the Mumbai Port Trust.
reply to a letter by Shiv Sena Member of Parliament Arvind Sawant, Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal have said that there is no enabling provision under any of the existing policy of the Ministry to give the proposal in its present form.
At present around 960 families reside in 12 buildings in BDD Chawl at Sewri spread over 5.73 acres of land. There are total four BDD chawl clusters in Mumbai, which are located at NM Joshi Marg in Worli, Naigaon (Dadar), Parel and Sewri. There are more than 15,500 families residing in 195 buildings in the other three chawls other than Sewri.
While the work on revamping the other BDD chawl complexes started in August last year, and is being carried out by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), it has not yet started in Sewri as the land belongs to MBPT and its Necessary permission is required for the Trust, which is under the Union Ministry of Shipping.
In April this year, Sawant wrote a letter to the Prime Minister. Narendra ModiAccordingly, the Ministry of Shipping was requested to grant permission for the redevelopment project at Sewri.
“The redevelopment of clusters of BDD chawls located at Worli, Naigaon, NM Joshi Marg and Sewri in Mumbai has been done by the Maharashtra government. However, the redevelopment of BDD Chawl cluster at Sewri is yet to commence as it has not been permitted by the Shipping Ministry as it is on the land of Mumbai Port Trust,” the letter said.
Responding to Sawant’s letter dated June 3, Sonowal said the proposal cannot be implemented in its present form. “I would like to inform you that a proposal for redevelopment of BDD Chawl at Sewri from Mumbai Port Authority has been considered in the ministry. There is no enabling provision under any extant policy of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to implement this proposal in its present form. The information has been given to the Mumbai Port Authority.
The communication comes as a major blow to the residents of Sewri’s BDD Chawl, who are now unsure whether their chawl will be redeveloped.
Mansingh Rane, a Sewri BDD chawl resident spokesperson, Akhil Sewri BDD Chawl Redevelopment Project, said, “MP Arvind Sawant has been probing the matter on behalf of the state government for a long time and his response has left the Center disappointed. There is resentment among the residents of the chawl. They have been assuring us that redevelopment will be done and now how can they say no? We request the state government to discuss this matter with the central government and resolve the issue. If need be, we are ready to take to the streets and protest.”
talking to Indian ExpressSawant said, ‘I have been talking to the central government on many occasions and have raised this issue in Parliament as well. Till some time back the ministry was giving positive assurances but nothing was happening on the ground… so I wrote a letter, but to my shock they directly rejected the proposal saying that there is no way to implement it in its present form. There is no provision. We are ready to discuss it… They should tell us how they are willing to allow us.”
State Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad told The Indian Express, “It is very unfortunate that redevelopment work is already underway on three BDD chawls in the city, the Center is not giving its Sewri land for redevelopment. should allow.”