Unmesh Gujarathi
Sprouts Exclusive
For the builder’s benefit, the tehsildar violated the rules of the Mumbai High Court and the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee. Based on that order, hundreds of houses were demolished in an illegal manner in Sion Chunabhatti, Mumbai. The “Sprouts” special investigation team has received the documents containing reliable information in this regard through RTI.
The Apex Grievance Redressal Committee has been constituted by the state government under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to resolve the grievances of the slum dwellers.
Both societies had given a stay application to stop the demolition of the houses here. But the hearing on this application was pending. However, Tehsildar Umesh Patil issued an order to raze hundreds of houses only for the benefit of the builder. It is found from the documents received that this order was issued in a completely illegal manner.
The first hearing on the plea given by both societies regarding the same adjournment was also held in the Mumbai High Court, and the second date was given by the court. But while the hearing was going on, hundreds of houses were razed the day before the decision, only for the benefit of the builder. The Tehsildar has committed contempt of court in this matter.
What is the matter?
On Hill Road at Sion-Chunabhatti (at Plot Nos. 373 and 295), two Mhada-registered housing society houses had been standing there since before 1960. But in 2014, Sion Chunabhatti Shri Gurudutt Co. Op. Housing Society (proposed) was formed by residents who are not members. The meetings shown for it and its procedure are illegal. From the documents received, it is found that a single builder, ‘Kings Builders & Developers’ (owner Nilesh Kudalkar), was appointed for the redevelopment work by this society without calling for tenders. The funny part is that the appointment letter was given to this builder in advance, and then the motion for his appointment was passed. More importantly, the majority of residents who attended these scheduled 2 society meetings are not homeowners. Many such illegal matters are found in it.
All the houses on these two plots were first surveyed in May 2016. The builder was not mentioned in the notice issued for it. Later, builder Nilesh Kudalkar submitted a development proposal to the Deputy Collector of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (Bandra) on May 8, 2019. After his proposal, the Deputy Collector, Mulund again issued another notice in November 2019 mentioning the development proposal submitted by King’s Builder. But a thorough survey was not done for all the houses. The houses were surveyed randomly. But it is worth mentioning that the documents attached to this development proposal were found to have been given by the members/residents for the 2016 survey.
Based on this proposal, Annexure-II has been prepared by Devidas Chaudhary, Deputy Collector, Mulund. In June 2020, all the government and semi-government offices were completely closed during the corona epidemic, but for the convenience of the builder, Annexure-II was prepared and published on the society’s premises immediately. Importantly, it has been falsely shown that all the members of the two registered societies have consented to this redevelopment plan, but actually, they have not given their written consent.
On the basis of all such incorrect and developer-friendly documents, the proposal was accepted by the Deputy Collector, Slum Rehabilitation Authority, Bandra, and developer-friendly proceedings were initiated, so the resident members approached the Bombay High Court and the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee for justice. Even though the tehsildar is only for the builder’s convenience. Umesh Patil demolished these houses during the rainy season. Actually, there is a High Court order that the houses not be demolished during the monsoon, though the order was flouted. This demolition operation was continued illegally until 10.30 at night.
