Change of guard in Maharashtra - Again, crores could be spent on official homes

With the impending installation of the new government in Maharashtra, work has already begun to get official bungalows vacated and refurbished in Mumbai's prime Malabar Hill and Nariman Point areas for members of the cabinet.
Some of the ministers in the outgoing Congress-NCP government had spent crores of rupees on renovations and refurbishments on these bungalows in the past few years, according to information obtained under the Right to Information Act. With the change of guard in the state, these bungalows - occupying some of the priciest real estate in the world - will be refurbished again at taxpayers' expense. “Many ministers of the Congress and NCP have wound up their belongings and started the process of moving out of their official residences.

However, some ministers have not given any indication of moving out as yet,“ said a public works department official, adding that the PWD will take over 24 large bungalows in all and allot them to the new ministers after refurbishment. According to an estimate, the total cost of these bungalows could be Rs 9,000 crore.Homi Bhabha's bungalow at Malabar Hill, with 13,953 sq feet of area built over 17,150 sq feet of land, fetched Rs 372 crore in an auction recently.

Most of the bungalows allotted to ministers in Maharashtra are of a similar size.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan occupied two adjacent bungalows named 'Varsha' and 'Torna' at Malabar Hill for his residence and office when he took over on November 2010. Chavan has already vacated `Varsha' bungalow, but he is likely to be officially allotted another bungalow at Nariman point as leader of the opposition that was used by the BJP's leader of the opposition Eknath Khadse.

The PWD has spent Rs 73 lakh on renovation of Varsha in the past three years, according to information given by the gov ernment in response to an RTI query .

The bungalow which has been the envy of most ministers is former PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal's Ramtek at Nepean Sea road. Bhujbal's family has for 15 years occupied this bungalow, which has a large lawn along the sea front.

Former minister Narayan Rane has been living at `Dnyaneshwari' bungalow, which is right next to 'Varsha'. The PWD spent Rs 88 lakh on renovating Dnyaneshwari between 2010 and 2013, according to information available under RTI.

Ajit Pawar stayed at Devgiri bungalow, which he has occupied since he first took oath as an NCP minister in 1999. Pawar's staff has started the process of moving their belongings out of the bungalows. The PWD spent Rs 59.3 lakh on renovation of Devgiri in the past three years.

Former minister Harshawardhan Patil's 'Parnakuti' bungalow, which is yet to be vacated, cost the PWD Rs 1.17 crore in the past three years while former home minister RR Patil's 'Chitrakoot' bungalow, which cost Rs 68 lakh in renovations in the past three years, has already been handed over to the PWD by his staff.