Tenants reluctant to move into camps

Mumbai: A stay at transit camps and not having to pay rent are the biggest concessions that the government is giving to the 15,000-odd tenants of century-old BDD chawls. Apart from this, the government has also planned to give each tenant a 500-square-foot flat, which is the biggest area for a home given under any government redevelopment project.

Currently, the biggest free house under the redevelopment project is around 300 square feet in area. However, many residents are still reluctant about having to move into transit camps and want to go ahead with their own plan of self-redevelopment. Raju Waghmare, one of the tenants opposing the redevelopment, said, “The people who were protesting against the launching ceremony were arrested in advance. This is very undemocratic of the state government.

Meanwhile, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, assured tenants that the BDD chawl revamp would change their lives, and anyone who has reservations should believe in the line: ‘Our doors are always open for the tenants’.

The BDD chawls are spread over 93 acres and comprise 207 ground-plus-three-storey buildings that have 16,557 flats admeasuring 160 square feet. Redevelopment of the BDD chawls will be done under a new set of development control regulation, which will be prepared by the Mhada.