Girgaum chawl to be vacated for Metro 3 corridor

Mumbai: Nearly 103 families of Kranti Nagar Society in Girgaum, south Mumbai, will have to vacate the premises to make way for the underground metro 3 corridor (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz), with the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) having put up a notice to that effect. According to MMRC officials, the land may be utilised for ancillary operations and metro buildings.

Two weeks ago, Kranti Nagar residents saw a Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) notice pasted on one of the walls of their 160-year-old chawl, demanding that the residents vacate the place for metro 3.

Sandeep Vasudev, a tenant, rued, “The notice was sent by the authorities without any prior intimation. Nobody even came to speak to us. Where can we go all of a sudden?”

The notice was dated April 5 but was pasted on one of the walls of the chawl around April 20, with an intimation for residents to submit their objections within 15 days. The notice created panic among the residents. However, a MMRC official said, “The plot will be used for ancillary purposes, metro activities. Tenants will get in-situ rehabilitation on the plot. A few of the residents had already approached the authority for redevelopment.”