Matharpacady ALM against cluster redevpt of 'vintage' neighbourhood

MUMBAI: Advanced locality management (ALM) members of Mazgaon's centuries-old Matharpacady village have made known their disapproval of a planned cluster redevelopment that would affect a part of their gaothan.
Residents have emphasised the historical significance of their neighbourhood that comprises "exquisite, vintage" houses and said they fear the proposed redevelopment might lead to irreversible loss of "these architectural treasures". The residents said they were "surprised" to receive a letter from Shreepati Build Infra Heritage Pvt Ltd earlier this month addressed to the landlords and tenants, which they alleged failed to provide any rationale for supporting the redevelopment. One of the residents alleged, "Only around 50% of the proposed cluster redevelopment plot is within the village. We have been verbally informed that even if we do not agree to the offer, the company would still be able to go ahead with redevelopment as they have the majority of the members on their side."
Another resident whose home is not part of the redevelopment plan said he fears he might receive the letter too. "There is such a unique charm to this village that we don't feel we are in Mumbai. Most of our homes have inscriptions dating back to the 1800s and we fear all this will be wiped out. We want to maintain this village as it is," he said.
The letter, a copy of which is with TOI, states: "...we are redeveloping the above subjected properties under Cluster Redevelopment Scheme under DCR 33 (9). We would also like to state that the High Power Committee (HPC) first approved the cluster under DCR 33(9) on 11/08/2009, the revised HPC approval was obtained on 10/08/2022. Government has approved the cluster on 24/07/2023 and LOI (Letter of Intent) has been issued on 03/10/2023. We have also applied for MOEF NOC, IOD (Intimation of Disapproval) & CC (Commencement certificate) the same will be issued shortly. Your property is within the cluster and we have been negotiating for almost more than 10 years."
A statement from Kumar Gandhi, director of the company, said: "Over 30% of the tenants in the Mhada transit camp for more than 40 years. There are a few tenants with ulterior motives who are opposing the redevelopment for the purpose of negotiation. As each tenant would be provided with a flat of 550-square-foot carpet area, we will pay Rs 15,000 monthly rent. Where they have asked for more, we said it is not viable. A corpus of Rs 2 lakh would be given to each tenant while as per rules it is Rs 50,000. We are paying more. Matharpakdi tenants have signed irrevocable consent before the project approval."