Dawood assets sale will help Bhendi Bazaar plan: Activists

Mumbai: With the auction of gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s properties, the ambitious Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project in South Mumbai will be expedited, civic activists said. However, people’s grievances should be taken into consideration seriously to avoid incidents like the Husaini building collapse, they have warned.

Three south Mumbai properties of Dawood were bought by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) in an auction conducted by officials of SAFEMA (Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Forfeiture of Property Act) on Tuesday. The properties included the two-storied ‘Shabnam Guest House’ at Yakub Street in Bhendi Bazar, Hotel Raunak Afroz and six flats at the Damarwala building on Pakmodia Street, where Dawood had stayed before fleeing India in the early eighties. According to the SBUT, the three properties fall under its ongoing Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project and are unfit for living.

The SBUT is the implementing agency for the ambitious Rs 3,000 crore Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project. The project has received Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) approval for the first phase from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and also for the master plan layout.

Civic activist Anwar Bhojani said, “With this development, we hope that the Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project will be expedited. We are not against the redevelopment project. Hurdles in this project are being cleared gradually. The only thing is they should ensure there should not be any more mishaps like Husaini building collapse henceforth. Their grievances should be tackled and rights should also be protected.”

The project covers 3,200 tenements in 250 buildings and 1,250 businesses, all of which put together will involve 20,000 people.

SC advocate loses in bidding

Supreme court lawyer Bhupendra Bharadwaj too had bid for two properties of Dawood. After the auction Mr Bharadwaj said that he wanted to tell the world that terrorism cannot survive. “I lost the bid for Hotel Afroz but I will bid for the Aurangabad property,” he said. Mr Bharadwaj added that he wants to do some good work and use the place for nation building.