Saifee Trust gets BMC nod for Mumbai's biggest redevelopment project

In what could be a model for the redevelopment of Mumbai on the public-private partnership model, the city's civic authorities have granted permission to the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) to carry on with the Rs3-000 crore Bhendi Bazar redevelopment project in the heart of the city.

No doubt under state government pressure, the SBUT today received IOD approval for the first phase of the project from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had assured full support to the project last week.

The project has also received the approval of the master plan lay-out, SBUT said in a release.

"With the IOD in place, we are now one step closer to begin phase-wise construction," SBUT chief executive Abbas Master said.

After the redevelopment proposal is sent to the MCGM, it goes to its various departments for their approvals and remarks. These remarks are compiled in a letter and issued to the developer as "Intimation of Disapproval (IOD)".

Master said the trust will now apply for commencement certificate after fulfilling conditions of IOD.

More than 60 dilapidated buildings in Bhendi Bazaar - a densely packed area - have so far been demolished and over 1,600 families shifted, a majority of them opting for residential transit homes.

The trust has acquired more than 85 per cent of the buildings and received environment clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

The project covers 3,200 tenements in 250 buildings and 1,250 businesses, all of which put together will involve 20,000 people in the largely Muslim-populated area.