#419
Unread post
by S. Insaf » Sat Feb 02, 2013 2:46 am
Is the Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project a good model for other clusters in the city
TIME OUT Mumbai Magazine
By Nergish Sunavala on February 01 2013
A little after 2pm on a Sunday, two weeks ago, residents and shopkeepers from Bohri Mohalla in Bhendi Bazaar trickled into Supariwala Hall on Duncan Road. Floral decorations from the wedding held there the night before were hurriedly shrouded in plain white sheets, to agree with the gravity of the situation: 200-odd, largely Shia and Sunni Muslim stakeholders were meeting to discuss their concerns about the Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment plan, spearheaded by the spiritual head of the area’s majority Dawoodi Bohra community (a Shia sect). As local politicians like Abu Azmi, state president of Maharashtra Samajwadi Party, and non-Bohri residents railed against the plan, the white plastic chairs and red velvet couches slowly filled up and by 3pm, the room was packed. Speaker after speaker shared their fears of displacement and anger at the proposal’s top-down approach.
This was the first public airing of grievances – and show of strength – by the Bhendi Bazaar Redevelopment Tenants Association (BBRTA), but despite the charged, giddy atmosphere of the room, the group remains a minority. Over 70 per cent of the area’s residents firmly support the plan undertaken by the Dawoodi Bohra charitable institution, the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT).
In about 10 years’ time, high-rises ranging from 11 to 62 storeys will dominate what was until recently, a dense cluster of 280 low-rise rabbit warrens in a 16.5-acre plot, book ended by the JJ flyover and Mutton Street. One of the reasons that the Rs. 2,945-crore plan is being scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb is the implications it bears for the rest of the city: if it proves to be a success, it will become the model for other cluster redevelopment projects.
Beneath the souped-up residential units, the SBUT also plans to have a commercial arcade-like set-up across three levels – a far cry from the roadside stalls and ground-level shops that currently spill out onto the street. Roads and landmarks will vanish and the area’s 200-year-old market will be irrevocably altered. The Jumma Bazaar, when hundreds of hawkers take over the bazaar’s narrow alleys, might be another casualty. “I have created 16.5-acres of a nice high-end shopping area,” said the plan’s architect Qutub Mandviwala, “that is going to lend a lot of flavour to this place.”
But cluster redevelopment has left a bad taste in the mouth of several architects and urban planners. According to clause 33(9) of the state’s development control regulations, builders are encouraged to redevelop groups of old buildings and revamp an area’s infrastructure – in exchange for building extra floors that they can put on the market. A plan of this nature requires consent from at least 70 per cent of the area’s residents, which is the SBUT’s trump card.
As any such cumbersome plan must, the project has stirred resentment, especially among the area’s minorities, who, according to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), make up 40 per cent of the neighbourhood. Some feel marginalized by the trust’s monocultural vision of a neighbourhood built around sacred Bohra landmarks – the Raudat Tahera tomb is envisioned as Bhendi Bazaar’s pole star – while others worry that their rights will be trampled upon. Commercial property owners, meanwhile, are vociferously against changing the character of a bustling vintage market that has acquired a reputation over centuries. In 1803, when a fire gutted the Bazaar Gate precinct in the old Fort area, Indian traders moved to Bhendi Bazaar. For the last 200 years, residential and commercial establishments have stood cheek-by-jowl in this dense cluster devoid of pavements, green spaces and many basic amenities that the rest of the city takes for granted. The SBUT rightly claims that the area’s run-down buildings – 75 per cent of which have been classified as dilapidated by MHADA – garbage-strewn streets and crumbling infrastructure are desperately in need of an overhaul. But the radical nature of the transformation has opened it up to debate.
In 2011, a “high power committee”, chaired by then municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar, approved the plan. According to the additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta, the proposal is still awaiting an IOD CC (intimation of disapproval and commencement certificates) from the municipal authorities, permissions that are required before construction can start. Demolitions, however, began in September last year and till date, 500 families have been moved into the SBUT’s transit camps in Anjirwadi and Ghodapdeo. According to Pralhad Mahishi, residential executive officer of Mhada’s Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), only dilapidated buildings have been brought down. But the demolitions have clearly alarmed the BBRTA, who demand that no more buildings be razed until the permissions are obtained.
As days go by, the area is getting polarised around communal and sectarian lines. The trust’s logo – an image of the Raudat Tahera surrounded by skyscrapers – leaves no one in any doubt of the trust’s priorities. A large plaza encompassing both the Raudat Tahera and the Saifee Masjid, is planned at the southern end of the rectangular plot, which has clearly not gone down well with spiritual leaders from other sects. “Why should everyone else pay the price for showcasing the Raudat Tahera?” asked Maulana Aijaz Ahmed Kashmiri, imam of the Sunni mosque Handiwala Masjid, on Saifee Jubilee Street. He explained that closing off the southern end of Saifee Jubilee Street to accommodate the plaza, will pose problems for his congregation, which offers namaz in the open. Kashmiri also alleged that the trust had included the mosque within the cluster’s perimeter without consulting him or the Cutchi Memon Trust that administers the masjid – a charge confirmed by the aforementioned trust.
At the time of going to press, the SBUT had not responded to our question about this particular case. However in an earlier interview, its chief executive officer, Abbas Master, did explain how the required 70 per cent consent from residents and shopkeepers was obtained: “Tenant management consultants went door to door, explaining things. For each signed consent… all the things were [video] recorded.” The SBUT has also set up an information centre in the area to clarify any doubts that the residents may have. In addition, the trust has bought over 80 per cent of the 280 buildings in the area to make the redevelopment process seamless.
For shopkeepers wary of moving to the first or second floor of the arcade, the SBUT plans to offer additional area as an incentive. Master also explained that every effort was being made to reduce the time shop-owners would have to be away from the bazaar. “We are demolishing [the buildings] in such a way that they can continue to do business,” he said.
But these have not addressed the BBRTA’s concerns adequately: the dissenters plan to present the SBUT with a list of 30-odd demands that includes the issuance of redevelopment agreements, rehabilitation of residents and shopkeepers to their old locations and an increase in the minimum area of each residence from 350 sq ft to 450 sq ft. It seems unlikely that all these demands will be met. For one, the trust has already given residents 50 sq ft more than the minimum government requirement. According to the association’s general secretary Mozzam Qureshi, the group is going to use every manner of protest including filing RTIs, seeking legal recourse and finally, even staging a Satyagraha.
Not everyone is opposed to the SBUT, however. The residents of Bagban Mahal, for instance, are desperate for a bailout. MBRRB refuses to repair their dilapidated 95-year-old chawl, since it falls in the cluster redevelopment zone, while the landlord refuses to sell the property to the SBUT (or repair it himself). The residents are so frustrated that two people we interviewed joked about hiring a hit man to get rid of the landlord.
Their disappointment is understandable. At the SBUT’s two transit camps in Anjirwadi and Ghodapdeo, residents are full of praise for the trust’s remarkable efficiency and the Syedna’s largesse – packers, storage facilities, utilities, electrical fittings and even a washing machine is provided free of cost in the 250-sq-ft transit accommodation. But even for them, fundamental questions remain unanswered. “They haven’t told us which plot, which building, how many floors or which floor we will be rehabilitated to,” said 70-year-old Fizza Dohadwala, who recently moved to the Ghodapdeo transit camp with her family.
In order to recover the cost of the project, the four tallest buildings on the northern end of the plot, will be sold on the open market. “80 per cent of the land [goes] back to the existing tenants and only 20 per cent on the north side has been kept for the sale,” said Mandviwala. The trust will also take care of all maintenance costs for the first 10 years after the redevelopment.
To ensure that residents aren’t slammed with sky-high electrical bills in the future, the SBUT has kept the project as green and sustainable as possible. For instance, all buildings are insulated so that less power is required to air-condition the bedrooms, there are water recycling plants and the structural design ensures that no room requires artificial lighting during the day. “The city will benefit from our minimal use of their infrastructure,” said the project’s green consultant, Prem Jain, founder of Spectral Services. “We will release more infrastructure for the city by creating our own areas for parking, water and sewage [treatment],” he added. Taking all these factors into consideration, the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee-2 (SEAC-2), passed the Bhendi Bazaar proposal on January 3, 2013. It will now go before the State Level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority for the final green nod.
All the different government agencies that Time Out got in touch with – Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Mhada and even the SEAC-2 – wholeheartedly endorsed the proposal. “It will improve – in fact it will transform – the environment of the area,” said the chairman of the SEAC-2, Ravi Budhiraja. However, Pankaj Joshi, director of the Urban Design Research Institute felt a public-private initiative involving the area’s residents might have achieved a more inclusive vision for the neighbourhood. “We’ve seen that every such large scheme has virtually deprived the original residents of their basic services,” said Joshi, citing examples of redevelopment projects in Mazgaon, Parel and Sewri.
But if the SBUT manages to mollify the area’s minorities, and replicate the amenities in its transit camps, it just might prove to be the exception to the rule. In which case, the city might be forced to bid farewell to the old world charms of other beloved inner-city neighbourhood. Bhuleshwar and Kalbadevi, you may be next.
nauzoBillah....