Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment: Peace march to ‘evict’ 700 tenants

The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) created a decade ago for cluster redevelopment of Bhendi Bazaar will take out a peace march through the congested area, home to scores of old and dilapidated buildings. The march that will see the participation of children from the neighbourhood is to urge around 700 tenants who are yet to move out to make up their mind on shifting. Last year’s Hussaini building collapse that claimed 33 lives has prodded the SBUT to identify old and dilapidated buildings and take up their demolition. Shoaib Wajhiuddin, head of tenant management for the trust, was arrested in March this year for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the case, and is still in jail. Since the tragedy SBUT has been issuing notices to tenants of old and dilapidated buildings to vacate voluntarily or be forcibly evicted. MHADA officials said that if tenants do not vacate, they would be forced to seek police intervention to move them out. “We identified 250 old and dilapidated buildings. So far we have demolished over a hundred buildings but there are more than a hundred others that are still occupied, with residents refusing to move though we have increased the (transit) rent to Rs 30,000 per month and are giving two years rent in advance,” said a SBUT spokesperson.