After spending Rs 1.5 crore, Mhada razes ‘ghost’ transit camp

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has begun dismantling a transit camp it had set up eight years ago at the cost of Rs 1.5 crore in Bandra, where real estate is prohibitively expensive, as it has remained uninhabited.

The beneficiaries of a previous transit camp at Bandra Reclamation had refused to move into the present one due to the poor quality of construction. The transit camp in question was handed over to a consortium that was to construct a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project cum residential complex close by.

In 2008, Mhada erected the temporary transit camp at Bandra Reclamation to rehabilitate people living in slums in the vicinity under the SRA scheme. The transit camp was to accommodate 230 slum dwellers, who would be allotted houses in the residential complex that would be built. However, due to the poor quality of the houses the beneficiaries refused to move there.

Asgar Kalim, who was to shift to the transit camp, said, “The houses built by Mhada were extremely poor in quality and the walls separating each home were so thin that what was being said in one house would be audible in the other. Hence the shift was rejected unanimously and the camp remained vacant since it was built.”

Confirming the same, former corporator of the area, Rahebar Khan, said, “The people were not sure of the completion of the project and hence refused to shift to the transit camp.”

When contacted, Vivek More, Special Planning Authority (SPA), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that the plot in question had been given to the civic body to include in the DP 2034, but as per a January 2016 notification it would remain with Mhada and the transit camp was not being dismantled by the civic corporation.

When contacted S.S. Zende, vice-president of Mhada, said he was unaware of the transit camp being dismantled and would be able to throw light on it only on Tuesday. However, Bhushan Desai, executive engineer, Mhada, Bandra division said, “The developer has sought permission to pull down the existing structure and remake it, as it did not have any takers. The cost had been borne by Mhada initially but the current demolition and remaking will be taken care off by the developer now,” said Mr Bhushan.