Work on one of the biggest cluster redevelopment project in Bhendi Bazar will get a push with the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) — implementing agency for the revamp — planning to appoint contractors for eight of the nine clusters in the next two months.
The project involves redevelopment of an area of 65,880 square metres, which is divided into nine clusters. Out of this, work on one has already started and is under process by a US-based contractor appointed for the same. For cluster 3, SBUT had appointed a small-time contractor to start off with the work of piling. In piling work, a column of wood or steel or concrete is driven into the ground to provide support for a structure.
Abbas Master, chief executive officer, SBUT, said, “We have received bids by many contractors and currently, we are in the process of evaluating the bids received by these contractors and within the next two months we will appoint the overall contractors for the remaining clusters, excluding cluster one.”
Once the redevelopment is completed, every residential tenant will get a flat with a minimum area of 350 square feet and the commercial tenants will be accommodated in commercial complexes.
In all, there are 3,200 residential tenants, of which the SBUT has already shifted around 1,700 residential tenants to transit camps. Subsequently, the SBUT has shifted a total of 450 commercial tenants. The project involves a total of 17 towers, for which the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation gave its nod in January 2016.
There are more than 65 dilapidated structures in Bhendi Bazar, of which the SBUT has claimed to acquire more than 85 per cent of the structures and the trust also received environment clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) two years ago.
The revamp of Bhendi Bazaar will cost the SBUT around Rs 4,000 crore and is also one of the largest cluster redevelopment projects of the country. The SBUT is a community trust that belongs to the Dawoodi Bohras.
