Residents of 200 Juhu societies, who cannot redevelop their crumbling buildings owing to a 50-year-old notification, have said they will all boycott the upcoming BMC election
Housing societies in Juhu within a 500-metre radius of an Army wireless transmission station. PIC/NIMESH DAVE
Around 200 societies that come under a 500-metre radius of an Army wireless transmission station in Juhu will boycott the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election. Their members, in a meeting on December 7, decided not to exercise their franchise because the government is not allowing them to redevelop their societies.
On June 19, 1976, a notification, SRO-150, was issued, restricting the height of buildings in the zone to 15.24 metres or 50 feet and making mandatory a no-objection certificate from the defence ministry for redevelopment.
Members of the 200 Juhu housing societies at the meeting, where the decision to boycott the poll was taken, on December 7. Pic/By Special Arrangement
After the Adarsh Housing Society scandal broke out in 2010, the Ministry of Defence implemented the 1976 notice for buildings in proximity to defence establishments across the city. Apart from societies, cinema halls, schools, colleges, health care centres, and shopping malls are also affected by this notification.
Residents speak
Bhupendra Babubhai Lakdawala, 80, a resident of Shelton Society, said, “I reside on the second floor of my building and have to climb up and down as there is no lift. I was the head of a department at HR College and am a chartered accountant. My society was developed in 1980, but we are not allowed to redevelop it because of a notification from the defence ministry. This year, all of us decided not to cast our vote. We will be boycotting the BMC election entirely if our needs aren’t fulfilled.”
(From left) Residents of these societies Jayantibhai Thakkar, Amit Jagani, Bhupendra Babubhai Lakdawala, and Arun Jasoja
Jayantibhai Thakkar, 85, a resident of Karachi Society at Juhu Circle, said, “My building is seriously dilapidated. A club for military personnel is located at the wireless transmission station, and marriage functions and other such events are held there. Why aren’t we being allowed to redevelop our societies?”
Amit Jagani, 32, a resident of Jayanti Niwas building, near the ISKCON temple, said, “I reside in a ground-plus-one-storey structure, which is old. Many surrounding buildings are in a dangerous condition. We are boycotting the BMC election.”
One of the housing societies in Juhu within a 500-metre radius of an Army wireless transmission station. PICS/NIMESH DAVE
Arun Jasoja, a resident of Santa Sadan Society, said, “We formed a group named the Juhu Wireless Affected Residents’ Association. We have written letters to the BMC, MLAs, MPs, Ministry of Defence, and the Prime Minister himself, but have not received help from anyone.”
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