Metro-III to eat into land of 63 more buildings, 58 served notices so far : The Times of India

Mumbai: `Land Won't Be Acquired Till All Residents Heard & Compensated'

Sixty-three more buildings along the proposed Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro III route may be served land acquisition notices, to make way for its stations' entry-exit points, ducts and ventilators.

Mumbai Metropolitan Re gion Development Authority (MMRDA), the project plan ning authority , has already is sued notices to 58 of a total o 121 buildings located close to the 26 proposed stations. Most of these buildings are in the is land city .

Mumbai Metro Rail Cor poration (MMRC), MMRDA's project execution arm, needs two hectares permanently and 1.5 hectares temporarily for its Metro-III plans.

Most of the space required for the project is in Girgaum and Kalbadevi, where as many as 737 families in 26 buildings will be affected. At other areas, only a few metres of land is needed. A tender has been floated to appoint a con sultant exclusively for Gir gaum. The consultant will fi nalize a rehabilitation plan for the project-affected buildings.

“We have been issuing no tices to affected families and owners so that we can proceed with negotiations with them under Section 126 of the Mah arashtra Regional and Town Planning Act,“ said Ashwini Bhide, managing director MMRC. “It is not necessary that all these buildings be de molished and residents evic ted. We only need a little space to build ducts and set up venti lators for the underground section of the project,“ an MMRC official added.

MMRDA had come up with a compensation plan for Gir gaum and Kalbadevi after Shiv Sena protested.

At Dadar (West), on the other hand, residents of three of the four affected buildings did not act on the showcause notices they received on June 4 as they could not understand their implication.

Last Saturday , though, MNS threatened to agitate against MMRC.

Shiv Sena, too, joined the protest and organized a meeting with MMRC officials at the mayor's bungalow.

No member of the fourth building came forward to join the protest.

MMRC's Bhide said, “As far as Dadar is concerned, just eight families that live in Surve building will be affected. The land will not be acquired unless all the residents are heard and compensated appropriately .“

Bhide has requested affected residents to come forward and respond to MMRC.

“The Metro-III project is for Mumbai and Mumbaikars.The city is about to witness a great development because of this project. Suburban trains will be decongested and we will be able to save 15-20 invaluable lives daily that we lose today ,“ said Bhide.

Rajendra Chaudhary , a shop owner at Corner View, one of the four affected buildings at Dadar, though, said: “If MMRC claims that only eight families will be affected, then why has the notice been issued to other two buildings too?

They should rehabilitate only one building instead of dragging other buildings into the controversy .“ Another resident said MMRC should have at least taken residents into confidence and come up with a tentative rehabilitation plan before issuing notices.

A politician who did not wish to be named said the negotiations will continue for at least a year now.

“The civic elections are scheduled for the beginning of 2017. This will be a major issue for discussion during the election campaign,“ he said.