Facing prolonged bureaucratic hurdles and uncertain timelines, residents of 19 ageing buildings near the historic Elphinstone Bridge are preparing to submit their own redevelopment proposal to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). 

It has been over a month, and we have received no communication from the authorities. The MMRDA keeps saying they’ve had no updates from the Urban Development (UD) department, so they cannot make any commitments,” said Akshay Sutar, a resident of Lakshmi Niwas. While the residents are caught in bureaucratic limbo, several private developers have shown interest in stepping in. “Around five developers have approached us, mostly focusing on Haji Nurani and Lakshmi Niwas. However, one group has expressed interest in cluster redevelopment of all 19 buildings,” said Munaf Thakur, secretary of Haji Nurani. A copy of the letter of interest submitted by a private developer for cluster redevelopment is with mid-day.