MUMBAI: In a relief to over 35 former mill workers of Bombay Dyeing Mill, Bombay high court stayed allotments of 80 transit tenements in a MHADA project of the mill land redevelopment at Prabhadevi and Wadala plots Dadar. A bunch of former mill workers petitioned the HC alleging irregularities and illegalities including “double allotment’’ to some.
The petition said Bombay Dyeing Mill (Spring Mill) Wadala, over 33,000 sq m land was handed over to MHADA from 09.12.2014 in which 5,136 flats were reserved for the mill workers which BMC too approved. The petition claimed that MHADA constructed six buildings on the one-third land reserved for the mill workers. One building with 240 tenements was under construction, said the mill workers claiming while it was exclusively meant for them MHADA planned to allot only 160 flats to mill workers, hence they filed the petition, asking that the HC direct the remaining 80 also be reserved for them, given the long waiting list they have.
The Development Control Regulations (DCR) requires one third of Bombay Dyeing Mill land to be reserved for mill workers and with 11 buildings constructed by MHADA the former workers said six buildings are for mill workers and in the sixth building there are 240 tenements out of which 80 tenements are for transit accommodations, reserved for mill workers, hence stay was sought till matter is heard. The petition said there are many ex mill workers in the waiting list. The HC posted the petition on Feb 5, 2025 and also directed the petitioners to serve spare copies of the petition to the HC registry within two weeks failing which it would be dismissed.After hearing advocate Meghna Gowalani and Milind More, the additional government pleader, the HC division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata on December 11, directed the matter be adjourned to February 5, 2025 and till then granted a stay on allotting 80 transit flats out of 240 in a building built by Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co Ltd, till matter is heard and decided finally.
The petitioners were Gopal Baburao Shelar, 67 and 35 others who had applied under the housing scheme for Bombay Dyeing Manufacturing Co. Ltd mill workers. The mill has two properties — the Textile Mill at Prabhadevi in Lower and Spring Mills at Dadar Naigaon in Wadala. The land upon which the Mills are situated is free-hold land belonging to the Company. Spring Mills at Dadar was closed after obtaining the necessary permission of the commissioner of labour, Maharashtra, on 25 November 2004
The petition made the state, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the secretary of Housing Department, Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd (Spring Mills), BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority), as parties. The HC will hear the case next in February.
Source Homevior.in
