State govt to provide homes nearby; Elphinstone bridge stays open for now

All residents of 19 buildings in the Elphinstone bridge area will be provided new houses at the same location with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA acting as the Special Planning Authority SPA redeveloping them under a cluster development plan The bridge will stay open until further noticeThe decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde the state chief secretary and senior officials from the MMRDA Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and MSRDC held at Sahyadri Guest HouseMumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Ashish Shelar said that initially a total of 19 buildings were expected to be affected by the Elphinstone bridge work However following revised planning by the government only two buildings will now be directly impactedThe Elphinstone bridge will remain open until further notice File picAshish RajeldquoWith locals opposing the move on Friday and fearing that other buildings might also get damaged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis accepted the request that redevelopment of all 19 buildings be carried out by the MMRDA under Section 339 without waiting for any private developerrdquo Shelar said ldquoInstead of offering compensation or alternative houses to the residents of the two affected buildings they will be provided with redeveloped houses in the same place In the interim they will be accommodated in transit housing at KurlardquoHe added that the redevelopment plan ensures all residents including those from the 17 unaffected buildings will eventually get homes at the same location ldquoThis decision ensures that Marathispeaking residents retain their homes in the same neighbourhoodrdquo Shelar saidHowever some residents remained unhappy ldquoWe also met MMRDA officials but they said they cannot comment until they receive formal communication from the government Our residents donrsquot want to move to Kurla even temporarily Surprisingly even local MLA Kalidas Kolambakar was not invited to todayrsquos meeting with the Chief Ministerrdquo said local resident Sriram PawarLocals protesting against the closure of the bridge on Friday File picAshish RajeVivek Pai architect urban planner and transportation consultant said ldquoItrsquos something that will definitely become a precedent however how this is done along with the economics and regulations will need to be seenrdquoJagdeep Desai architect academician founder trustee and chairperson of the Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai said ldquoItrsquos not a good idea and should definitely not be used as a precedent Yet again it shows that no detailed planning was done for the project Everything should be ready ahead of the work so such spontaneous possibly contentious decisions arenrsquot imposed on citizens And again what is the reason why only these residents are given special treatmentrdquoDomnic Romell president of CREDAIMCHI said that what has been done at Elphinstone is a positive development and will be used as a precedent for other projects ldquoIt is a very positive development and as I have been saying the Maharashtra government has been encouraging cluster development in the city This is a very positive thing With good housing the governmentrsquos priority is towards transparency and accountability Also it will not affect project timelines given the volume of the project but it ensures transparency and makes people happyrdquoPankaj Joshi principal director of the Urban Centre Mumbai said ldquoPrecedent or not it is important from the perspective that it will create an impetus for housing One also needs to consider the social fabric of the area and maintain the originality of the place Another important aspect is that these bridges in the city have historical significance and we need to preserve some of their old identity in some formrdquoatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params