SC order on open space puts Bhendi Bazaar project in limbo

Mumbai: The Supreme Court order on retaining mandatory open and recreational spaces around skyscrapers in Mumbai is likely to impact the city's biggest redevelopment project in Bhendi Bazaar. 

    The verdict is a major victory for civic activists and town planners who opposed government policies that allow towers on narrow plots in highdensity areas. But it has hit developers hard. Redevelopment of dilapidated cessed buildings in the island city, slum rehabilitation schemes and redevelopment of housing societies on tiny plots in the suburbs are expected to suffer. The 16.5 acre Bhendi Bazaar project, a major cluster redevelopment scheme, will be one of them. 
    Assisted by senior counsels like Fali Nariman, Haresh Salve and Shyam Divan, a bench headed by Justice H L Gokhale overturned bizarre norms which allowed developers to leave negligible open space (barely 1.5 m) around buildings. The court ordered that there should be a width of at least 6 m on one side within the plot to allow fire engines to manoeuvre in an emergency. 
    A Mumbaikar himself and aware of the haphazard construction in his backyard, Justice Gokhale also struck down a civic policy, which allows the compulsory recreational ground to be placed on the building's podium. The court mandated that the recreational ground must be on the ground itself. 
    But builders said rehabilitating existing tenants and slumdwellers free of cost in new tenements and building apartments to be sold in the open market—all on the same plot—will make such projects unviable now. 
    The spiritual head of the one-million strong Dawoodi Bohra community, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, had launched the Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project about four years ago. The highly-congested locality houses 3,200 families, mainly Bohras, and 1,200 commercial shops. Its planners are now worried. 
    Abdeali Bhanpurawala, secretary, Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust, said, "The court order does not take into account ground realities. It will derail most redevelopment projects in the island city, especially in the congested B and C wards where population density is very high. We are discussing the project and have to find a way out." 
    The project's CEO, Abbas Master, said, "It will affect our project. A recreation ground on the podium is safe for children and away from noise. Once it's shifted to the ground level, there will be little space left for parking." 
    The project was at the last stage of approval in the BMC. But after the SC order, the municipal commissioner has stopped granting permissions to all redevelopment projects in the city. 
REDEVPT PLAN 
Bhendi Bazaar project will rehabilitate 3,200 families and 1,200 commercial shops 
17 towers will be built after 250 old low rise buildings are razed 
Of 17 towers, 13 will be exclusively for rehousing existing residents 
The remaining four towers will be sold to buyers at market rate 
Each rehab building will be between 30 & 45 storeys, while the free sale towers will be over 50 floors 
Car parks for rehab component will be 1,400 
Car parks for free sale will be more than 1,000 WHAT THE COURT SAID |Minimum recreational space can't be reduced and must be provided on the ground and not podium alone 
    Reconstruction proposals, even for plots up to 600 sq m, must retain open space of at least 6m on one side at ground level, unless the building abuts two roads of 6 m or more on two sides 
    Govt will appoint a technical panel for highrises to look into grievances about construction