'Living in death trap, but no one listening': Residents of MHADA colony

Residents of Mhada Colony in Dindoshi say they have been complaining about dangerous encroachment by SRA building for the past two years.

Complaints made by residents of a MHADA colony in Dindoshi, regarding the boundary wall of an SRA building encroaching upon a road and narrowing it down, over the past two years, have fallen on deaf ears. Neither MHADA nor the developer, who has constructed the SRA building, has made any efforts towards resolving the problem. According to locals, in case of a fire, the fire brigade won't be able to enter the area as the boundary wall has eaten up a portion of the road at the entrance of the colony.

More than 200 people reside in Dindoshi Cooperative Housing Society Union Limited, an old Maharashtra Housing Board (MHB) Colony in Goregaon East. The colony's internal road has two entrances – one from Pathanwadi area and the other from the Goregaon side near Oberoi Mall.

The boundary wall of an SRA building has encroached upon the internal road of a MHADA colony in Dindoshi. Pic/Sameer Markande

Speaking to mid-day, a resident of the colony, Vipul Mane said, "An SRA building – Sheikh Ibrahim Heights – has come up near the Pathanwadi entrance of the colony and the builder has constructed the boundary wall by encroaching upon a part of the road. This leads to traffic jams, as the road width has decreased. Earlier, two vehicles could easily pass on the road at the same time but now even that has become difficult. This will also obstruct the entry of the fire brigade in case of an emergency. We have complained about the same to MHADA and even local representatives, but no action has been taken in this regard." According to sources, the Dindoshi cooperative housing society union has also written letters to the local MLA, corporator, MHADA, SRA and ward office regarding the encroachment and some shops that have come up illegally along the compound wall.

The executive engineer of Goregaon division of MHB had also written a letter in February 2018 to Star Developers, who has developed the SRA building. The letter, copy of which is in mid-day's possession, states, "It has been brought to the notice of this office by Dindoshi cooperative housing society union that the compound wall of Sheikh Ibrahim Heights, constructed by you, has encroached upon MHB colony end road (9.15 metres wide) leading to Pathanwadi. Owing to this, the road width at the end portion of the colony has considerably reduced, thereby leading to traffic jams and hardships for residents. You are, therefore, directed to verify the actual boundaries of the newly constructed building by re-measuring the distance through your PMC/supervision staff from the SRA side. And accordingly, you have to dismantle the part of compound wall and rectify/reconstruct it at your risk and cost. Failing which, SRA/MCGM authorities shall be requested to remove the encroachment as per the prevailing corporation laws."

Local MLA speaks
Speaking to mid-day, local MLA, Sunil Prabhu said, "I am aware of the complaint made by the MHB colony union related to the alleged encroachment. I had even taken MHADA officials to the site but I don't know why they are not taking any action if the allegations are correct."

We can't take action: BMC
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a junior engineer from BMC P-North ward, said, "We have received the complaint but it's a road that has been constructed by MHADA. If MHADA asks us to provide machinery and manpower for demolition of the illegal wall, then we can provide the same. We can't take action as the area does not come under our jurisdiction." Even after repeated attempts to contact chief officer, Mumbai board of MHADA, B Radhakrishnan, he was unavailable for comment.

200
No. of people residing in the cooperative housing society

2018
Year MHB had written a letter to the SRA building developer

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!