Redeveloped building ready, tenants unable to move in | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: At D N Nagar in Andheri West, the redevelopment of over 400 old buildings has been affected by the height restrictions necessitated by the high-frequency transmission towers of the Airport Authority of India (AAI). The restrictions were imposed in 2021, putting particularly those residents whose buildings had already started being constructed in a bind.

One such building is Durvankar CHS near Ganesh Chowk, the first redevelopment project that was hit and had to be scaled down from 16 floors to 12. The building has been redeveloped and stands tall and swanky but the tenants have not got possession of their new flats from the builder.

Durvankur CHS, also known as Building No 15, was originally a Mhada building constructed in 1968. The structure, which housed 40 tenants, was declared dilapidated and unsafe after a slab collapse in November 2019, and a month later, Mhada had it evacuated. The tenants, depending on their financial situation, relocated to other areas, with some even moving as far as Virar.

The redevelopment process was initiated soon after. In November 2020, the residents appointed a developer for the new building, which was planned with 16 floors. An agreement was signed with 40 tenants, and the necessary permissions were sought from Mhada. However, in July 2021, the developer was informed of the newly imposed height restrictions by AAI, which significantly altered the project’s scope.

“The developer communicated to the residents that the revised project was no longer financially viable,” said Parag Sawant, an affected tenant. “Reducing the building height from 16 to 12 floors would lead to a loss of approximately ₹10 crore for him, prompting him to consider abandoning the project altogether.”

The developer’s stance alarmed the residents, who worried that he could stop paying them rent for their alternative accommodation. Their building had already been demolished and they had no other place to call home.

In September 2021, a special general meeting (SGM) was held where the developer put forth some conditions, to which the residents agreed. A key condition was that each resident would pay him ₹22.5 lakh per flat upon possession, with the understanding that this amount would be refunded once the AAI’s transmission towers were relocated and the height restrictions on the building lifted.

In January 2025, the builder presented the residents with two other options; one was to sell their flats to him and the second was to give him power of attorney to rent out their flats till such time as the AAI restrictions were lifted.

In an informal meeting on Sunday, the residents and the developer discussed the most viable options to ensure that the tenants could eventually take possession of their flats. “We are all middle-class people who cannot afford to pay the money demanded by the builder for our flats,” said another resident. We will see what best option comes out of this mess.”

Last week, industries minister Uday Samant announced that the government would complete the land allocation process to relocate the transmission towers within the next three months, ahead of the next assembly session. The government’s announcement came after BJP MLA Ameet Satam raised the issue through a calling attention motion in the legislative assembly.