Metro-II: Sena leaders, volunteers among project affected persons

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Pandurang Sapkal, local Shiv Sena leader from South Mumbai, said, “There is no doubt that we are fighting for this cause as a majority of those affected are Marathi-speaking families. However, we are in this also because Shiv Sena is going to be personally affected by this project. There are about five or six office bearers of the Shiv Sena who will be forced to give up their homes for the project. Besides, there are innumerable party volunteers in the area whose families will be impacted because of this project.”

Sapkal added that the party’s office in Girgaum, shakha number 215, is located right next to the alignment of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro Rail. “Although the office will not have to be demolished, there will be a danger to the soundness of the structure once construction starts,” he said.

Ravindra Mirlekar, a former legislator from Shiv Sena, is one such party worker whose building is in the list of those that will have to be pulled down for the 32.5-km Metro line.

Mirlekar, who lives in a cramped room on the second floor of the Narmadabai Trust building in Chira Bazar with his family, said, “We were never consulted, ever. The authorities approached us with the intention of displacing us and never sought our suggestions. I don’t know how much to believe of the promises that are made in the legislative assembly. Being a former legislator I know only too well how many such promises actually materialise.”

He added that Girgaum is one of the bastions of the Shiv Sena, and naturally many of the affected families are Shiv Sainiks.

Speaking in the legislative assembly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has promised to ensure rehabilitation of all families to be displaced from buildings on the same site. He has also promised flats double the current size for those families living in houses with a size of up to 300 square feet, and 30 percent bigger tenements for those having existing houses of over 300 square feet.

Meanwhile, not satisfied with just an announcement, local Shiv Sena leaders have called a ‘Girgaum bandh’ on Wednesday. All shops in the area will remain shut voluntarily, Sapkal said, and Shiv Sena will lead a protest rally from Princess Street.

“We want the corridor alignment to be changed and the two stations to be eliminated from the plan or else shifted to another location as per our advice. We want the chief minister to come and meet us personally, understand our problems and devise a rehabilitation scheme accordingly. We won’t be satisfied till such a scheme is transformed into a Government Resolution,” Sapkal said.

Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam said that the entire Congress cadre in Mumbai will support the Girgaum bandh on Wednesday.

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation has conducted several public hearings with residents of these areas over the past one month in trying to quell the opposition and allay fears of the residents. The project, which is estimated to cater to 14 lakh people immediately after completion targeted in 2020, will overall necessitate the rehabilitation of 777 families from 28 buildings besides several hutments. The project will connect major business districts across South Mumbai and the western suburbs and provide connectivity to the international airport and major railway stations.

manasi.phadke@expressindia.com