The redevelopment of Patra chawl, spread across 47 acres, has been mired in controversy and 672 tenants of the chawl were left in the lurch. The project was being executed by the Maharashtra Housing and Regional Development Authority (MHADA) and in 2008; it had given the contract to Guru Ashish Developers, a subsidiary of HDIL, to rehabilitate the 672 tenants. A multilateral agreement was signed between Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd, the tenant’s society and MHADA for the redevelopment of 47 acres.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar installed Goregaon’s Siddharth Nagar, also known as Patra Chawl’s redevelopment project, which has been delayed for several years. Due to non-payment of rent by the developer to residents, MHADA had issued a termination notice to the developer on January 12, 2018, officials said.
Against this notice, the developer sold his share of the project to nine other developers without MHADA’s permission. The nine developers had then filed a suit in the Bombay High Court. Due to these legalities, the redevelopment project was stalled for the past several years.
In 2020, the state government had appointed a one-member committee of Johnny Joseph, the retired chief secretary of the state government, to study and recommend solutions to generate rent for the 672 tenants deprived of their homes and a plan for their rehabilitation. The committee had then submitted its detailed report to the government in two parts.
Following the recommendations of the committee report and feedback from MHADA, in June 2021, the state cabinet had approved the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl again and a government resolution in this regard was issued in July 2021. MHADA will now develop the project and give possession of the flats to the 672 residents. It will also immediately complete the remaining work in 306 flats for which a lottery draw was held.
