Forged: A copy of Baitullah Khan's death certificate Although he used to sign in Urdu, his thumb impression appears on the redevelopment resolution of the Gilbert Hill (right)

Controversy shrouds a major slum redevelopment project with the discovery that signatures and thumb impressions of dead people feature on a consent application form of the plan.

The four-and-a-half acre plot around Andheri's volcanic structure of Gilbert Hill, known as Gaondevi Dongar, which houses more than 2,500 huts, is the second-largest slum in the city after Dharavi. An RTI query revealed that Twin and Deccan Builders have procured the entire plot for just Rs 50 lakh.

MiD DAY has acquired copies of the death certificate of Taslim Beg and Baitullah Khan, whose signatures appear on the redevelopment resolution application submitted in September 2007. "Taslim expired on March 9, 1994, when the redevelopment plan was not even in existence," said Hayatt Pathan, her brother. Yousuf Khan, Baitullah's son, said, "My abba, who died on December 5, 2006, used to sign in Urdu, but the copy
has a thumb impression instead."
 
An FIR lodged at the D N Nagar police station by a resident body called Jan Seva Rahivasi Sang alleges that over 90 per cent of signatures on the copy have been forged. Seven associates of Twin and Deccan Builders were arrested last month. However, they were eventually released on a bail of Rs 25,000.

No transparency

"Nearly 90 per cent of the signatures have been forged with the help of goons. The price at which the plot is acquired is also debatable. How can it be acquired for such a low price when a 10x10 feet room fetches over Rs 5 lakh?" asked Salim Khan, secretary of the resident body. He added that the case has been referred to the economic wing of the Mumbai police and the Home Ministry.

However, Aslam Deccan, who is a partner in the Twin and Deccan Builders, denied all allegations. "There are a few people with vested interests, who have taken money from other builders, and are misleading the residents," said Aslam. Investigating officer Arjun Rajane said that a case of rivalry within the builder lobby could not be ruled out, as it is a major redevelopment project.

About Gilbert Hill
Gilbert Hill has a unique assemblage of spectacular vertical columns of black basalt rock about 60 metres high. It was reportedly declared a National Park by the Central Government in 1952. It has a hexagonal cross section, which is believed to have developed from basaltic lava, which poured out from long fissures in the vicinity of Mumbai 65 million years ago.