Mumbai: At the heart of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scam involving former Congress MLA Baba Siddique and his associates are allegations that the identity particulars used for 158 beneficiaries were bogus and purportedly signed by government officials on state holidays. One document was signed on ‘February 31’, an imaginary date. The Bandra police, however, said the matter is under probe and it is awaiting the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) probe findings.
Glaring discrepancies have been alleged in the SRA project of Jamaat-e-Jamuriyat at Bandra Reclamation including issuance of ration cards on dates that don’t exist or on Sundays and public holidays. These documents led to bulldozing the settlement and the construction of 26-storey plush ‘La 88’ on the plot.
“One of the ration cards issued in the name of Mohammed Sirf Fakir Momin with ration card number 111662 was issued on February 31, 1988, a date that doesn’t exist,” said Abdul Salam Haji Dawood, the complainant in the case.
Momin is one of the beneficiaries in the redevelopment scheme and the document bears a date that clearly identifies it to be bogus. “Other ration cards were issued on dates that fall on a Sunday or on public holidays. These details were submitted to the ED officers and they verified the same,” said Mr Dawood.
The Bandra police, which is probing charges of cheating and forgery of documents presented for allotment of flats in the SRA scheme, said the matter is under probe and it is awaiting the ED’s findings.
“We will submit a report after the ED completes its probe. If it finds any fake documents, we will put it up before the court in our report,” said Pandit Thakre, senior inspector of Bandra police station.
Mr Dawood went to the ministry of environment and forests in Delhi and found that the tower had exceeded the mandatory height for construction on a Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) area.
The documents submitted by him to the investigation agencies reveal that the original height of the structure 80.35 metres, which was revised to 106.35 metres. The plot is on reclaimed land and this was in gross violation of CRZ norms, the documents revealed. They were cleared in May 2005. The revised plan was submitted to the fire department for clearance on May 26, 2011.
The building was ultimately constructed on 17,858 square metres with an FSI of 1.87, when it had to be constructed in a spread-out area of 16,742 square metres with 1.5 FSI, as per the norms and the original plan, which was submitted by Qureshi Developers. The project was then taken over by the Pyramid Developers, a company run by associates of Baba Siddique.
Despite repeated attempts, Siddique did not respond to calls or texts from The Asian Age.
SRA scheme
The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme allows developers to allot homes measuring 269 square feet to eligible slum dwellers who have been living in that slum prior to January 2000. In return for allotting homes to slum dwellers, developers get additional floor space index (FSI) on the particular plot where they can further sell their additional constructions in the open market (sale component) after rehabilitating slum dwellers under the rehab component.
