Metro-III may knock-out residents at Shivaji Park

Metro-III may knock-out residents at Shivaji Park

Metro III will bring distress to 150 residents at Shivaji Park. The line will go right through a residential area

Mumbai: Several families at Shivaji Park received a bolt from the blue on Thursday, when they received a notice from MMRDA, asking them to vacate their homes before Sunday.

Actually, the notice is dated May 29, but it was received by the residents on June 11.

And whey were they asked to go? As per plan, the proposed Metro III line will pass through a Shivaji Park plot owned by Satish Shankar Gupte. As many as 150 people are staying there some of them have been there for decades.

The residents received the notice late. MMRDA has issued a show cause notice to residents of Shivaji park, (plots 701, 702 and 703) the land of which is under the name of Satish Shankar Gupte. This notice has the date of May 29, 2015 written on it, and was supposed to be handed over by the date written. Instead, the residents have received a huge shock by looking at the notice they received on June 11.

According to Rajan Bhosle, General Secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, there was an underground network supposed to be built near the Shiv Sena Bhavan. The outlet was initially planned near the petrol pump close to Shiv Sena Bhavan but because there was a building being constructed there, the builder opposed the development of an outlet there. This, according to Bhosle was later shifted to another location barely a hundred meters away from the originally planned spot, in which these residents stay. The MMRDA has planned to use this very land to build an outlet for the Metro III line.

The societies affected by this are Corner View Building, Dayalji Building, Surve House and Dadar Sai Kirti Society. “There are approximately 150 people living here. They have not even given a decent alternative to  the relocation plan and have issued the notice. It is wrong and we are going to meet the Mayor along with local corporator, local MP and the MMRDA officer to get solution for this problem,” Bhosle said.

MNS Corporator Sandeep Deshpande also feels strongly about this and he is supporting the residents in the troublesome situation. “The residents were not taken into confidence and have not even been given an alternative to relocate. We have written a letter to MMRDA officials to draw their attention. If they are going to force evacuation, we will also protest in our own style,” said Deshpande, explaining how grave the situation was.