Go Girgaon gone?

This year might be the very last time the residents of Mohun Building celebrate Ganeshotsav together in their courtyard as they have been wont to do for the last 100 years and counting Next year the 121yearold chawl might join the slew of redevelopment projects underway in south Mumbairsquos historic neighbourhood of GirgaonldquoWe are in talks with our chawl trustrdquo says Anup Barve who grew up here ldquoOnce we go in for redevelopment wersquoll have to see what happens to our Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav MandalrdquoArchitecturban planner Mihir Vaidya grew up in Datta Mandir Wadi where the open corridors served as community spaces where residents can gather and socialise PicShadab KhanWhen we walk into the building in the middle of a steamy August afternoon the fivestorey chawl bears a quiet look with festive preparations yet to begin We think back to the grand celebrations that took place here just two years ago when the mandal celebrated its centenary It remains to be seen if this yearrsquos fervour matches upOf all the cultural events in the year Ganeshotsav is the one that has historically held the most significance in Girgaon This is after all where Bal Gangadhar Tilak first began the tradition of sarvajanik mdash community mdash festivities in Mumbai in 1893 as a way to unite people against the British In the decades since every chawl in every bylane here has established its own Ganpati mandal To this day the biggest mandals in the city including Lalbaugcha Raja still follow the traditional visarjan route cutting through Girgaon before immersing the idol at Chowpatty And yet here in the festivalrsquos own ldquobirthplacerdquo celebrations have been witnessing a decline in strength in recent years due to an exodus of the Marathi community as the redevelopment wave sweeps the chawlsMohun Building a 121yearold chawl in Girgaonrsquos Thakurdwar area is likely to go the same way as other chawls around and be replaced by a tower in the coming years PicsAshish RajeMihir Vaidya an architect and urban designer who also runs the Instagram account Chawls of Girgaon explains the significance of the cultural loss that the cityrsquos very ldquofirst suburbrdquo is experiencing ldquoWhen Bombay was first established during the colonial era the city comprised only Fort George or todayrsquos Fort precinct Then entire communities migrated to the city and settled around it in Girgaon Each community had its own pocket or wadi which had its own temple shops and social infrastructure This wadi system is unique to Girgaon and the chawls here have large courtyards which encourage community spirit Perhaps this is why freedom fighters would hold rallies here and why sarvajanik Ganeshotsav started from hererdquoVaidyarsquos 2023 study Reintegrating Chawl Culture in the New Development of Girgaon published in the Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects pointed out that while wadis allotted 35 per cent area for community spaces new constructions set aside a meagre 10 per cent for social functions ldquoWhere is the space to hold large Ganeshotsav celebrations This is why a lot of mandals in Girgaon cease to exist once the chawls are redevelopedrdquo says the architect who grew up in Datta Mandir Wadi which is among the 80odd chawls that remain in existence thereMohun Buildingrsquos large courtyard are where residents celebrate Ganeshotsav and children play cricketTowers mushrooming across Girgaon ruin the festive mood in another way he adds ldquoA lot of the charm of the visarjan procession lies in being cheered on by residents from their verandahs Going past towers now only gives glimpses of parking levels or dead spacerdquoThe dip in Marathi culture manifests in other ways as well In Kandewadi we find Prakash Jore selling flowers at his stall outside the Akkalkot Swami Samarth Math When he and his brother started the stall 30 years ago theyrsquod get a steady footfall of buyers headed to pray at the Maharashtrian sagersquos shrine ldquoNow business is slow especially when it comes to items used in Marathi rituals such as durva bel patra and tulsirdquo he sighsIf it is redeveloped as a tower this community space might cease to existThese days the neighbourhood is seeing a rise in the grandeur of religious events such as Paryushan Janmashtami and Navatri says Shobha Rele a devotee visiting the temple ldquoThese days I even find myself speaking in Hindi to the shopkeepers just as often as Marathirdquo she saysGirgaon may have started out with a Marathi focus but it grew into a multicultural hub over time ldquoThe people who originally settled in Girgaon in the 1800s were workers and service professionals who had come to build the city its buildings and roadsrdquo says archaeologist and historian Andre Baptista who has spent the last five years studying Girgaonrsquos changing culturescape ldquoAmong these original settlers was the Marathi community as well as the Marathi East Indian Christians who settled in Khotachiwadi which is where I live In those days Girgaon was in the outskirts and property was affordable My greatgrandfather had bought a plot for R3000 in those days Today that amount would be equivalent to R50 lakh which would buy a small plot in Panvelrdquo he explainsAnup Barve Neil Bastani and Kurush DalalOver time the affordable housing drew people from all walks of life and Girgaon grew into a multicultural hub ldquoIt drew people across communities professions and ideologies from painters to musicians and dramatists It drew big names like Raja Ravi Verma and VS Gaitonde Because of this cultural milieu Girgaon was always given to progressive ideology Right or left it was represented here It was a very good example of pluralism in thought if not in culturerdquo says Baptista adding ldquoI think thatrsquos sadly missing todayrdquoldquoI think if you asked anyone here if they truly want to demolish the chawls or leave it they will say nordquo says Vaidya ldquoBut for some redevelopment and selling their flats is the only way to move up in life Most residents opt for redevelopment because they either want houses with toilets privacy or a home in their own namerdquo he addsAndre Baptista outside his house in Khotachiwadi File picSatej ShindeHe highlights that unlike Colaba or Malabar Hill Girgaon has always been a middleincome neighbourhood bolstered by affordable housing in the form of pagdi rentcontrolled tenements This last frontier too has now been breached by the redevelopment waveldquoChawl residents donrsquot own their houses they lease it on the pagdi systemrdquo explains Barve ldquoBut after redevelopment they get possession of their own flats Many of them go on to sell these flats and then move to the suburbs where they can find cheaper and bigger housingrdquoThe fun of the visarjan procession lies in being cheered on by residents in the chawl verandahs File picIn some cases the suburbanisation doesnrsquot wait for redevelopment As younger generations find financial mobility with better jobs many have chosen to give up their rentcontrolled homes with communal toilets in the chawl and move to the suburbs for a better standard of living At Mohun Building where Barve points to the empty verandahs that wrap around the courtyard ldquoThere are 110 houses here but about 60 per cent of them are vacant So many people have already left in search of more spacerdquoMumbai has no room for a vacuum though So as one community exits others have arrived to make Girgaon their home Many of them hail from business communities with deep pockets that can afford the newer expensive highrise apartments For the Marwaris and Gujaratis who have been working in the nearby diamond industry hub and wholesale markets for generations making a home in Girgaon makes senseThere are some though who point out how this new wave is changing the cultural fabric of the neighbourhood such as the closure of Marathi cinema and performance halls such as Central Plaza and Majestic theatresItrsquos the same story with Girgaonrsquos legendary khanavals lunch homes where workers could find affordable nonvegetarian meals The shuttering of Khotachiwadirsquos iconic Anantashram which served crab curry to stars like singer Asha Bhosle and cricketer Dilip Sardesai was a big blowJust a few metres away Golden Star Thali is another testament to changing tastes in the area Bahai restaurateur Zia Eshraghi switched the eatery from kheemapao and bunmaska to vegetarian thalis finding plenty of takers among the neighbourhoodrsquos diamond merchantsOne of the biggest changes that local bakery owner Neil Bastani has noticed in the locality is the ldquodisappearance of the East Indian Catholicsrdquo who are traditionally known for their affinity to baked products Bastani runs his bakery Daryush near Opera House where it was set up by his greatgreatgrandfather Once famed for its jam puffs macaroons and other confections Daryush now finds more takers for ldquovegan cakes and other modern offerings such as chocolate chip cookiesrdquo says Bastani adding ldquoTastes have changed but our 100 per cent butter khari mdash no margarine used mdash and cheese straws still remain popular they are evergreenrdquoldquoWhen I took over the bakery I took the cue from the neighbourhoodrsquos residents who were predominantly vegetarian and switched to eggless preparationsrdquo says BastaniAhead in Kandewadi Ideal Bakery made a similar switch to eggless products a decade ago after over 70 years of eggbased preparations A giant red board inside the bakery proclaims that they sell only vegetarian productsItrsquos perhaps safer to make this distinction at a time when quite a few of the newly redeveloped towers have closed their doors to nonvegetarian residents and businesses ldquoItrsquos been happening for quite some time and not just in Girgaonrdquo says Kurush F Dalal archaeologist historian and culinary anthropologist ldquoNonvegetarian restaurants are being made unwelcome and pushed out In Chembur my studentrsquos building was being redeveloped and the residents told the builder not to sell shops in the complex to nonvegetarian establishmentsrdquoThe rising bias against nonvegetarian househunters has been reported on widely and remains a sore point with the meateating Marathi community that increasingly finds itself unable to buy or rent a home in their own cityldquoTherersquos a tower not too far from here where nonvegetarians have been turned awayrdquo shares BarveAsked if Mohun Buildingrsquos residents are concerned this might be an issue once their new tower is completed and vegetarian buyers object to meat being cooked near them he answers ldquoA few years ago we had a resident who objected to a fishmonger selling fish inside the compound But all of us came together and explained that she had been selling fish here for years and this was only happening in the chawlrsquos public space Perhaps when the new tower is being built vegetarians and meateaters can be housed on separate floorsrdquoThe Mohun Building compound measures 1540 square metres and includes three structures with 110 homes in total For an indication of how many homes will be packed into the tower anticipated to come up here we turn to Vaidyarsquos research To explain how DCPR 2034 norms apply to redevelopment in Girgaon he draws up a simulation of a plot thatrsquos over 1000 square metres which houses say a fourstorey chawl with 198 existing homes This would likely be replaced by a 40storey tower with 221 apartments Of these the 198 original families would get 45squaremetre units while 23 new buyers would get 75squaremetre units And itrsquos not just the size of the apartment thatrsquoll divide the residentsThe formula of segregation suggested earlier by Barve is commonly used in many redevelopment projects says Vaidya and itrsquos not always to the original residentsrsquo benefitldquoDevelopers put old residents in units that will be harder to sell such as the lower floors or at the back of the building Sometimes the lifts for the original residents and new buyers are separate so there is no interaction Sometimes separate buildings are built for the two groupsrdquo he saysldquoItrsquos the complete opposite of chawls where the setting is so proximal that you canrsquot shut each other out Therersquos tolerance and acceptance of each otherrsquos culture and food preferences We used to be close to each other now we are getting closed offrdquo3537Allotment of community space in Girgaonrsquos wadis1037Community space allotted in new Girgaon projects80No of chawls left in GirgaonSource MHADAIconic Keshavji Naik chawl chooses selfredevelopmentKeshavji Naik chawl is considered the birthplace of the sarvajanik Ganeshotsav File picThe birthplace of the sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Keshavji Naik chawl has opted for selfredevelopment says architecturban planner Mihir Vaidya ldquoIn regular redevelopment the builder funds the entire project but also makes all decisions about allotment They might try to reduce community spaces or segregate residentsrdquo he explains ldquoIn selfredevelopment the residents hold the decision power They get funding from financial institutions and hire the architect and contractor They can decide how much community space to earmark and also to cap construction at say 20 floors and sell the rest of the FSI to a developerrdquo This way he adds the residents will be able to preserve their sense of community and also keep their 132yearold Ganpati mandal alive This is good news for Maharastrian restaurant Panshikar located half a kilometre from the chawl Since the 1920s three generations of the family that runs it have welcomed Ganpati revellers with ukadiche modak and faral ldquoIn those days residents of Girgaon were mostly Marathi Many have left the neighbourhood but some still return during Ganeshotsav and take home faral from our storerdquo says proprietor Jitendra PanshikarJitendra PanshikarOn the policy front Vaidya believes the adoption of a variable FSI and a more fluid version of heritage norms for precincts should be promotedThe government should offer lower FSI in heritage chawl areas to discourage builders looking to turn a quick buck This will instead encourage selfredevelopment Where thatrsquos not possible he suggests cluster redevelopment a few smaller chawls coming together to make one large plot gives them more bargaining powerPanshikar restaurant has served ukadiche modak to devotees at the Keshavji Naik Ganeshotsav mandal since the 1920sRetrofitting the chawls with toilets and structural maintenance by government agencies might help plug the exodus too he says citing Jitekar Wadi where residents have decided against redevelopment since they already have self sufficient homes in terms of space and sanitation