Campa Cola may be redeveloped

Campa Cola residents can heave a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court issued a stay order, taking suo moto cognisance after the heavy protests at the premises. The country's highest judicial authority has asked the Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Corporation to postpone the demolition to May 31, 2014. Residents now have 7 months to find alternate accommodation and vacate the building.

Some relief: After observing the wave of protests at the Campa Cola compound, the Supreme Court issued a stay order, asking the BMC to postpone the demolition to May 31, 2014. Pic/Sameer Markande

But if sources in the government are to be believed, Campa Cola may be redeveloped. Sachin Ahir, the state housing minister, claimed that the first priority was to have the ordinance legalising the unauthorised floors. But if that doesn't happen, an option would be to raze the illegal floors and redevelop the building within the permissible FSI rules, said the minister, who is also the local MLA for Worli.

Campa Cola's total area is 13,085 square metres, and was granted an FSI of 1.33, which allowed a construction of 17,355 square metres. However, the builder went ahead and constructed an area of 19,129 square metres, thus leading to the disastrous situation today.

"This is hypothetical, but yes, one of the options may be that after demolition of the illegal floor, residents approach the government. After studying the current Development Control Rules, they will be given an FSI that would help them rehabilitate most of the residents," said Ahir.

However, when asked, the residents didn't seem in agreement with the plan. Nandini Mehta, spokesperson for the Campa Cola Residents Association, said, "We don't want redevelopment. We have a solution -- demolish only 22 flats, not all."

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who had been involved in the protests along with the inhabitants, was asked why he didn't rehabilitate the residents at a concession in one of his projects, in spite of being a top builder in the city. Pat came his reply: "This question is invalid."

17,355 sq m
Permitted construction area for Campa Cola compound

19,129 sq m
Total area constructed by the builder u00a0