Redevelopment of Andheri’s Annanagar, Vitthal-Rakhumai and Kasam Nagar slums is headed for further trouble, as the developer who lost the election conducted by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) for the project on Wednesday plans to move the Bombay High Court alleging malpractice and favouritism.
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The Hindu had last week reported about the possibility of a blacklisted builder re-entering the fray for the project through a venture between his family members and L&T Realty, called LTR SSM Private Limited. A few days later, L&T Reality backed down from the project, leaving five other companies in the race. The election symbol for LTR SSM Private Limited was assigned to Shiv Infrastructure, which the losing developer, Manav Infrastructure, has termed as a breach of rules.
‘Violations of the law’
Out of the 472 eligible slum dwellers, 330 voted on Wednesday. Shiv Infrastructure won 213 votes while Manav Infrastructure won 103.
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Pramod Parekh of Manav Infrastructure said, “Around 70-80 of voters were not allowed to vote, while 90 ineligible voters were given the chance to vote. The election symbol of one company was given to other. These are all violations of law and we will approach the Bombay High Court against the entire election process.” He said that as per the SRA CEO’s order dated June 19, 2017, developers must get consent of 70% of the residents to win rights to redevelopment.
While SRA CEO Deepak Kapoor did not respond to The Hindu ’s attempts to contact him, a senior official from the SRA said even though the winning developer did not get 70% consent, the SRA may move ahead with the majority vote.
The official said, “The project may not progress at all if we decide to wait for 70% consent.”