Khotachi Wadi developer offers to halt construction

MUMBAI: A developer building a residential tower on a narrow lane in the heritage precincts of Khotachi Wadi in south Mumbai told the Bombay high court that it would halt construction and not demolish a heritage bungalow till the next hearing on September 27.
A division bench was hearing a PIL filed by Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and prominent activists Gerson da Cunha, architect P K Das, fashion designer James Ferreira and Dr Rakesh Shah. The PIL was against construction of a stilt plus 18-storeyed building coming up on a road that was barely 10 feet wide. The construction is unauthorized, clearly unsafe and poses a grave fire safety hazard, the PIL said.
An HC bench of S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel, after hearing the petitioner's counsel Shiraz Rustumjee express concern at the proposed construction, said, "…can't have an 18-floored building on a road that is effectively 10 feet wide". The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had not filed its reply yet in court and the developer, Deekay Realtors Pvt Ltd, whose lawyer, Yadunath Chaudhary, said they had "answers to all issues raised'' wanted to be heard. It said it would complete work on an almost ready 11-storeyed building where only the lift room is to be added but would stall work on the other tower which had only reached up to the plinth level. It would also not demolish a third bungalow; two have been demolished.
The PIL raised larger issues of permission granted for construction of highrises on narrow roads even when rules required at least nine metres as access on the sides. BMC tried to say that it was 30 feet wide but later admitted it was one-third the size.
The PIL sought accountability from the state. It sought to restrain the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA) from granting approval without a nod from the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee too.
It questioned the arbitrary sanctions by BMC to the developer and Dipesh Savla, the owner of bungalow 29A in Khotachi Wadi, which is proposed to be demolished.
The PIL challenged the "unauthorized construction activity in the Khotachi Wadi precinct'', which it said, would have "a disastrous impact on the precinct and its residents''.
Permission has been obtained by misrepresentation and fraud and are void, the PIL said. The authorities have acted in a casual and cavalier manner, the activists said.
The bungalows are in narrow lanes and alleys, which wind through the precinct, and offer a rare and unique example of domestic architecture of earlier centuries.
The wadi was originally owned by a Hindu Khot, from one of the many Pathare Prabhu families who made Girgaum and other areas of Mumbai their home during its early history. The Khot sold plots of land to many East Indian Christians who had also settled in the area.
The precinct was officially named Khotachi Wadi in 1880 by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. The buildings in the area are largely occupied by families who have lived there over generations.
Many bungalows with elegant detail in mouldings, wood and wrought iron are explicit prototypes of Mumbai's architecture from an earlier period.