Elphinstone Bridge row: Residents threaten to go on hunger strike over delayed written assurance from MMRDA

The redevelopment of the 125-year-old Elphinstone bridge has also been delayed. File pic/Ashish Raje

Though the state government issued an official statement announcing the redevelopment of 19 buildings in the Elphinstone area and promised residents new homes at the same location, no written assurance has been provided to them yet. Frustrated by the inaction, residents have now threatened to go on a hunger strike by the end of this week.

We don't want verbal commitments. We had already informed the MMRDA that we need written assurance. It's been over 15 days, and there has been no progress, no official communication from the authorities. We'll wait till the end of this week. If we still don't receive written clarity, we'll launch an indefinite hunger strike," said Akshay Sutar, a resident of Laxmi Niwas, one of the 19 affected buildings.

Residents pulling down the bridge closure board on April 25. File pic/Atul Kamble

While the MMRDA has revised the construction plan for the Elphinstone Bridge, resulting in only two buildings - Haaji Noorani and Laxmi Niwas - being directly impacted, the absence of written confirmation has left residents of the remaining 17 buildings anxious and uncertain.

"During our meetings with MMRDA and Urban Development officials, we suggested two alternative locations. One is the Priyadarshini building in Dadar, which the government uses for rehabilitation purposes and, to our knowledge, has 22 available flats.

The 16 families from Haaji Noorani could be shifted there. The second option is the newly rebuilt BDD chawls in Worli, where around 100 units have been handed over to MHADA. This would allow our children to continue school and help us retain our livelihoods in this area," said Munaf Thakur, a resident of Haaji Noorani.

Authorities clueless

On one hand, the MMRDA claims to have approached the Urban Development (UD) department for guidance, but UD officials appear to be unaware of the issue.

"We've already made changes to the bridge's design. Now we've sought suggestions from the UD department. Once we receive an update, we will provide the necessary assurance to residents. The matter is under discussion," said an MMRDA official.

However, when mid-day contacted the UD department, Aseem Gupta, principal secretary of the Government of Maharashtra and head of the UD department, said, "I'll need to check if there's been any update. To my knowledge, MMRDA and the housing department are responsible for resolving this issue. MMRDA is supposed to give the assurance. I don't have any current information on this, but I will look into the matter as soon as possible."

The Elphinstone Road overbridge was scheduled to close on April 26. However, the lack of coordination and clarity among the authorities has not only left the affected residents in limbo but also delayed the redevelopment of the 125-year-old structure, which is key to the progress of the Sewri-Worli connector project.

19
No. of buildings promised redevelopment