THE TOWN THAT GREW UP

Nagpur: Lush green mango trees, huge tracts of vacant land and a handful of bungalows. That was Khare Town in the 1950 and early 1060s. “My grandfather was building a house here in 1960s and we would visit the place on a tonga from Mahal. People would stop and look at the construction work, wondering who was building the house,” says Dr Sudhir Manglurkar who lives in Khare Town.
The plot size was huge too, measuring around 15,000 sq ft, and the price in those days for the entire plot was Rs200. “My father Benoy Kumar De bought land here and other families of Judges and advocates also settled here. There were just four bungalows. One was of Mohanis which was Kamalatai Hospet’s family. The others who lived her included families of Justice Hardas, Aichat, Sahasrabuddhe, Kher and Paranjape,” recalls Kumkum Shirpurkar. “Mohani and Barlingey were renowned families of Nagpur who were residing here. I used to live in Khare Chawl and later bought this 6000 sq ft plot from the Mohani family at Rs15 per sq ft,” remembers Dr Satish Sule.
There was nothing beyond Shankar Nagar. It was after the Congress session held in 1958-59 that Bajaj Nagar and Laxmi Nagar got developed. “There were very few shops. Soni and Firdaus were the two places from where we would buy gifts. Nand Bhandar and Ram Bhandar were the only eateries,” says Shirpurkar. Kids in the area would go to play in the open space at Khare chawl. “Till 1970, when I graduated from medical college, the number of bungalows in this area was still very less. The then Saroj talkies (now renamed Sudama) was built around that time and the first film to be released in that theatre was Anand,” says Mangrulkar. Khare Town was recognized as a locality of intellectuals as Wamanrao Chorghade, Prof Shastri, Prof Kher used to live here. “It was a colony of Maharashtrian Brahmins and Ganeshotsav was celebrated with lot of fanfare and dramas used to be organized during the ten days,” adds Shirpurkar.
Development of the area began around the 1980s when a few flat schemes came up. Amar Sharnam was among the first apartment schemes to come up here, recalls Dr. Sule. “During the eighties, when I returned from Goa where I had been working, the market on West High Court Road had come up and was quite popular. Some eateries and jewellery shops had also been established here,” says Mangrulkar. But the prices of real estate and the demand for plots spiked after the auction of land at Hilltop in Ram Nagar. It was around this time that builders began to scout for land and pressure began to mount on owners of bungalows. “Shewalkar builders were the first to take up redevelopment work and their first building here was called Bhoop. Subsequentlym they built many others in the area and named it after different classical ragas,” remembers Mangrulkar.
In the 1990s, Khare Town was caught in the middle of a construction boom. “Being the only child, I could retain my bungalow. But others had to sell off their properties as there were multiple shares in it,” says Shirpurkar, whose house is the only one in the entire area which has not gone into redevelopment. “This is a centrally located area and markets and residential societies began to mushroom,” observes Sule. Development brought its share of problems too. “The once small neighbourhood has become so huge that we are no more acquaintanted with our neighbours. We celebrated 50th Ganesh Utsav of Khare Town in 1978 in which all residents participated. But the association of this locality is now defunct,” says Sule.
Though still not as bad as Dhantoli, but Khare Town has its own share of problems due to rising traffic. “We have broad internal roads but these are now the connecting arteries for WHC Road and Traffic Park. So not a moment passes when a vehicle does not pass from here. Continuous honking and frequent accidents disturb the peace,” says Mangrulkar. The huge plots are being converted into luxurious residential societies. The three girls hostels and innumerable coaching classes brings clusters of boys and girls to the area. “The honking outside girls’ hostel, eve teasing and chain snatching have become a routine here. The constant construction work creates a lot of noise and innumerable eateries ensure that there is a constant presence of outsiders’ which poses a security threat now,” says Sule.
But amid all the traffic chaos and construction activity, the area has retained its character of a residential locality as unlike Ramdaspeth and Dhantoli hospitals have not come up here. “Cleanliness is still there as this area is free of slums and we still have 24 hours water supply and a substantial green cover,” Mangrulkar feels. “But the biggest nuisance now is that people are constantly putting pressure on those who hold plots here and tempting them to dispose them of for hefty amounts,” complains Sule.