Developer passes off kids as slumdwellers to acquire SRA flats

What would you do to bag a fancy flat in the hip western suburb of Bandra, a stone's throw away from Carter Road?

Developer passes off kids as slumdwellers to acquire SRA flats

What would you do to bag a fancy flat in the hip western suburb of Bandra, a stone's throw away from Carter Road? Developer Steven Fernandez passed off his son and daughter, Salil and Sasha Fernandez, as slum dwellers, in a bid to avail of flats under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority Scheme (SRA). The scheme was initiated to house 49 families at a prime Bandra location, opposite Guru Nanak Park.

Claims by residents of Kitkat Co-operative Housing Society near Guru
Nanak Park in Bandra, and an RTI application by Peter Kamble point to
developer Peter Fernandez's involvement in an SRA scam. Pic/Nimesh
Dave

If documents procured under an RTI inquiry, and allegations by residents of Kitkat Co-operative Housing Society in Bandra (W), the commercial property that came up on the plot, are to be believed, Fernandez got his daughter Sasha, now stationed in the United States, and his son Salil, a graduate from London Film School to pose as slum dwellers.

Salil runs Salil Jason Motion Pictures, a film production and entertainment firm (its website boasts of major corporate houses as clients, and a film titled The Mole, that he directed and his father sponsored).
Sunday Mid day has a copy of the RTI response that carries photographs and names of the Fernandez siblings, both ex-students of an affluent suburban school, on a list of 47 members who are eligible for rehabilitation, which substantiates the claim of Kitkat's residents.

Salil's LinkedIn profile mentions him as director of Salil Jason Motion Pictures since July 2007. The discrepancies in documents don't end here, says RTI applicant and Kitkat resident Peter Kamble. He alleges that the photograph affixed next to Sasha's photograph on the document submitted to SRA officials actually belongs to Steven Fernandez's peon Ram Viraj Pal, who is in no way eligible for a flat in the new construction. Pal has been identified as 'Jafar Abbas Kasamali', a resident who in fact died in 1994 (Sunday Mid Day has in its possession a recent mobile phone photo of the peon running an errand; and the similarity with the photo affixed on the document is evident).

"The main purpose of seeking answers under RTI was to ascertain why Steven was not allocating a stipulated space for a child day care center, which is mandatory under any SRA scheme as per guidelines and clearly mentioned in our agreement (SMD has copies of both). The developer gave us a verbal assurance that he would provide us vacant space on the ground floor for the daycare center. But he is now keen on using three vacant rooms there for a studio for his son," alleges Kamble.

An album photo shows Steven Fernandez and his daughter Sasha
seated next to each other

Another resident Anita Advani, who has long sold her property and left, has been identified as Anita Rodricks, alleges Kamble. Her photo is next to that of an unknown person who has been passed off as Rodricks Victor Anthony, who passed away in 2002. SMD has a copy of Advani's property agreement and Victor Anthony's death certificate.

"Angelo D'souza, another name mentioned on the list, died nearly 10 years ago. I personally attended his funeral in Nashik," says Kamble. Ram Tiwari, secretary of Kitkat Co-operative Housing Society, confirms irregularities on the part of the developer. "Of the original 49 families who have been rehabilitated, only 25 still reside here; the remaining have succumbed to the lure of money and sold their properties. They have probably built new huts somewhere else in Mumbai. Over a period of time they might become eligible for flats once again. So, the vicious cycle continues and the city is unlikely to ever be slum free," he laments.

As per their agreement with the developer, Tiwari claims Fernandez was allowed to use additional FSI to construct a building for commercial sale, and despite making a sizeable profit, he was now eyeing flats in the SRA building which stands in the same compound, and is worth crores. When questioned about people long dead and buried featuring on the SRA list, Fernandez passed the buck to SRA officials who he said were responsible for verifying facts, and were in charge of preparing documents after surveying the site and interviewing original residents.

"Government officials did their job as per stipulated guidelines. They do not work on my instructions. Last year, another survey was carried out, which revealed no irregularities. There are people with vested interests who are harassing me by using political clout. One resident has actually occupied the flat meant for a day care center and leased his existing flat for Rs 24,000 a month," he alleges.

Although Fernandez admitted to putting his son, daughter'su00a0 and peon's names and photographs on the list submitted to SRA, he said 'bigger irregularities' had unfolded. "Over 60% of flats that the slumdwellers were given, have been sold in the open market."

Fernandez drew this reporter's attention to the "good" he had done by offering money to help families who could not accommodate themselves in the 225 sq. ft allotted flats, to move out. When SMD contacted SS Zende, CEO SRA, he said once the issue was brought before him, action would be taken if irregularities were found.

Slumdweller 'sasha' is on orkut, and has moved to the US
Steven Fernandez's daughter Sasha's Orkut profile (left) mentions her as a resident of Omaha in America. The document submitted to the SRA (extreme left, circled) lists her as a slumdweller eligible for a flat. To her left is a photo of Fernandez's peon Ram Viraj Pal identified as 'Jafar Abbas Kasamali', a resident who died in 1994.

Anandani Thakoor, Chairperson, SRA and H West Federation
It's shocking that a scheme meant to rehabilitate poor slum dwellers is being misused by the developer, who is apparently hand in glove with the authorities. This is not a matter to be taken lightly; it has to be thoroughly investigated and the guilty should be punished.
u00a0
Adolf Tragler, Director Slum Rehabilitation Society,
NGO that's assisting residents in an advisory capacity Initially, the developer did a good job, and even housed the families in his compound when the project was being completed. It was only when we received the RTI response that the true picture and his vested interests emerged.