Pereirawadi - Consent came from the 'dead' .... DNA 8 Jul Pg 3

Pereirawadi residents claim that Monica Mecwan, who signed in favour of the SRA scheme in 2006, had died in 1999

Linah Baliga

Monica Mecwan 'died' on February 22, 1999. However, her signature is there among the 70 per cent majority, who, in 2006, consented to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme at Pereirawadi in Bandra (west).

The owner of a famous restaurant in Bandra was denied housing under SRA scheme as he was not a slum dweller. Yet his name figures on Annexure II, issued by the independent housing development department, naming persons eligible for flats under the SRA scheme at Pereirawadi. He, too, signed in consent of redevelopment.

No doubt the homeless of Pereirawadi are crying foul. "Monica was the mother of chief promoter Cyril Mecwan. She passed away in 1999," said Ashwin Parmar, a Pereirawadi resident, showing documentary evidence.

About the restaurant owner, he said, "The man had bought structures and rented those out on commercial purposes to a barber, an optician and a tailor. He never lived here himself. Recently, he handed over the structures to the builder."

Chief promoter Cyril Mecwan, when contacted by DNA, refused to comment on the issue.

Asked about the validity of the consent of the 'dead woman' and the restaurant owner, former IPS officer and practising advocate YP Singh told DNA, "The 70% majority giving consent for redevelopment should comprise eligible and surviving slum-dwellers. The non-eligible ones should be kept out."

As per the SRA scheme, no builder can go ahead with a redevelopment plan unless 70% of the residents approve it.

Another poser looms large - can the affluent lot, living in lavish flats, be considered beneficiaries in an SRA scheme? VG Pawar, additional collector, encroachment removal, said, "I need to go through the Pereirawadi records as the list was issued in 2006. But if they (the affluent ones) have been on the electoral list prior to 1995, or have pre-'95 licences for commercial structures, they could be considered eligible."