MUMBAI: As many as 229 of the 480 apartments meant to rehabilitate slum families were sold in the open market by a builder redeveloping a large slum redevelopment project in Goregaon west.

Despite stop work notices by the authorities in 2007, some of the buildings on the 13-acre plot near the Goregaon bus depot, were built in violation of the coastal development zone (CRZ) norms.

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has confirmed the violations by Kalinidi Estate Developer (Dattani Shelters).

The slum enclave called Bhagatsingh Nagar has been beset with problems ever since the redevelopment project commenced in 1993.

A report highlighting these alleged contraventions was prepared by the SRA’s deputy chief engineer and whetted by its legal consultant for action some months ago. But it has still not been shown to SRA chief Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, it is learnt.

"It is seen that 229 flats have been sold in the rehab buildings 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Therefore, the rehab constructed today is only for 251 eligible members. Architect has accepted the same and stated that area of the 229 non eligible persons who have been sold flats will be counted in the sale FSI," said the report.

Builder Satish Dattani and his architect Vijay Goradia denied violations, stating these 229 flats were used only to rehouse "unprotected" slum dwellers at their own cost. "We have allotted these houses to them from our sale area," they told TOI. Goradia said the scheme stalled following the amended CRZ rules in the late 1990s, which banned construction activity 50 m from major nullahs.

Sources said there is no free sale component left in the project since the builder has already sold 28,000 sq m of transfer of development rights (TDR) in the open market in 1997.

The issue blew up when residents who bought flats from Dattani in the project’s free sale component complained to the SRA and anti-corruption bureau. The Dattani Shelter Co-operative housing society said because of the violations its own building does not have an occupation certificate "due to the nexus of political leaders, developers and SRA office".

The slum scheme stipulates that a developer selected by legally-recognised slum dwellers must rehabilitate them free of cost in new buildings on a portion of the plot. As compensation, the builder receives additional construction rights to build large apartments that he can sell at market rate to recover the cost and rake in profits.

"We propose to conduct a hearing with the residents and then decide on prosecuting the developer," said a senior SRA official. "The 229 flats were sold to non-eligible people and the builder has now proposed to house the slum families in building No. 1," he said.

However, sources said there are 420 tenements still to be rehabilitated and Building No. 1 can only accommodate 96 tenements. "And no plans have been approved by the SRA till today for rehabilitating the remaining 324 tenements while the builder continues to build the free sale component in CRZ," they said.

The SRA official said two of the six rehab buildings do not have occupation certificates. Of the five sale buildings, four are constructed. "The SRA had laid down several conditions for the builder to comply way back in 2008. None of these have been done till date," said the official.

In its complaint to the ACB, society secretary Gopal Balasubramanian said the developer continued with construction in violation of coastal norms despite a high court order and stop work notice issued by SRA.

"The developer sold various flats in the building under agreement of sale and did not inform us about ongoing disputes with SRA. The developer has not even applied to SRA for obtaining permissions of approval for our buildings," it said.

The Bhagatsingh Nagar case epitomises the rot in Mumbai’s slum policy, especially at a time when the state government has further extended the cut off date to protect illegal hutments up to the year 2000. Housing experts have described this scheme as "builder-driven" meant to profit private developers who build luxury towers on slum land while squeezing slum occupants in a small corner of the plot.

