MHADA tells Mahalaxmi residents to move to Gorai for Metro III work

As if studying for exams is not nerveracking enough at least 30 children living at Mahalaxmi Sadan Jacobs Circle are worried that they will be thrown out of their homes in the middle of their exams Residents of the MHADA building have not only been asked to vacate it within the week but will be moved all the way to Gorai All this to make way for the Metro III constructionEven as I study for the semester exams I can feel this constant tension that I might have to leave my home said Samar Harmalkar a Std X student who attends a school in Byculla East These are heavy concerns for a child of 11 but Samar is not alone in worryingResidents allege that MHADA has not given any assurances about what will happen to them after the Metro work is completed PicsBipin KokateThe 25 families residing in Mahalaxmi Sadan are all anxious about the toll it will to take on their kids if the MHADA authorities end up forcing them to move to Gorai Like Samar most of the children attend schools in Dadar or south Mumbai and currently have to travel around 20 minutes to get to class If they move to Gorai the travel time shoots up to twoandahalf hoursDeepak Khamkar one of the residents said How will I travel all the way from Gorai to Dadar every day to drop my daughter to school It is just not feasibleSamar HarmalkarWhat about our homesMost alarmingly though the residents allege that the Maharashtra Affordable Housing and Development Authority MHADA is ousting them from their homes without any assurances of what will happen to them once the Metro III construction is over The buildings inhabitants received a notice on October 8 giving them seven days to vacate the building and shift to Gorai There are now barely three days left but the families are yet to receive any word on where they will be accommodated in Gorai or for how longThis uncertainty has gone on since July when the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation MMRC wrote to them stating that a structural audit had found the buildings structure weak Not only will the underground Metro tunnel be dug through this area but the Mahalaxmi Metro station is also billed to come up there The MMRC advised the residents to vacate their apartments for the duration of the Metro work to prevent any mishap However by this time the children had already begun a fresh academic yearThe letter offered the projectaffected people PAPs alternative accommodation at Wadala which they rejected They were then given the option of Pimpalwadi in Girgaon and were asked to move there within seven days Once again residents rejected this citing lack of basic amenities such as water and proper drainage After a long silence MHADAs October 8 letter came as a big jolt to the families said one of the residents Abhay BabarRavindra Sahani another resident said MHADA left the repairs of our building midway and did not pay any attention to us now they are asking us to vacate What will happen to our building Will we ever get our houses back Why are we being moved now when we were living in danger earlier while the piling work was going onOfficialspeakMadhu Chavan chairman of MHADAs Mumbai Board said The building is in a dilapidated condition The main issue is that they wanted a place in the island city but as there is no space available here the suburbs are the only option However considering that the children might suffer I have asked MHADA officials to look into this seriously MMRCs spokesperson said the agency did not want to comment on the matterChildren are worriedPawan ButiyaStd XMy exams begin from October 22 If we are forced to leave our home how will I travel all the way from Gorai to my school at Grant Road I will have to leave more than an hour earlierOmkar KhamkarStd VIMy exams start in another 10 days Everyone is stressed out at home My school and tuition class are just 1015 minutes away If we are forced to shift my studies could be seriously affectedAlso ReadMetro 3 vs Parsis MMRCL compares Parsi beliefs to SatiCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates