MUMBAI: The BMC’s D ward moved swiftly to remove several protest banners and posters put up by residents of Angrewadi Chawl in Khetwadi on Friday evening, highlighting the tension between citizens and the civic body over redevelopment delays. Manish Valanju, assistant commissioner of D ward, told HT that officials, with the help of the police, had taken down all the displays that tenants erected last week to announce their decision to boycott the upcoming BMC elections.
The residents, angered over delayed redevelopment, put up posters and banners to boycott the upcoming civic polls.
Chawl residents claim that the redevelopment of their extremely fragile building is being stalled by their default landlord LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) as well as MHADA. The chawl has been declared structurally weak and categorised as a C1 dangerous building, and tenants worry that without immediate redevelopment, it could collapse anytime.
Angrewadi Chawl, built 137 years ago, stands as a fragile relic of Mumbai’s colonial past. Housing 82 families and 11 shopkeepers across ground-plus-three-storey buildings, residents say they live under constant fear, as nearby redevelopment projects send shockwaves through their ageing homes. The rumble of jackhammers often shakes utensils off kitchen shelves, plaster routinely peels from ceilings, and fresh cracks appear regularly.
“Our building isn’t an RCC structure but is supported by load-bearing walls on both the left and right sides,” said Ramesh Nirmal Jain, a chawl resident of 48 years who is the redevelopment convener and joint secretary of the Angrewadi Rahiwasi Seva Sangh. “Due to redevelopment projects on either side, the walls of Angrewadi have developed serious cracks, and the buildings continue to deteriorate. We live in constant fear of our homes collapsing. If that does happen, who will be held responsible?”
Angrewadi Chawl’s history traces back to Sardar Angre, a Dewan of the Maharaja, who originally owned the property. It was later donated to a Mr Biwalkar from Pune. Before the nationalisation of insurance companies, the property was mortgaged to the Commonwealth Insurance Company, eventually making LIC the default landlord.
Tenants say they feel trapped in a legal and bureaucratic limbo. “We have been living here for 40 to 50 years and are focused on earning a living,” said a resident. “We have little time to deal with these issues. Our leases have expired twice, and in some cases, they are no longer renewing them.”
While Khetwadi tenants are threatening to stay away from the BMC polls, another form of electoral awareness is taking shape in Parel-Sewri. In F South ward, members of the Mahiti Adhikar Manch are educating citizens about their right to exercise the NOTA option.
“Vote you must. But if you find none of the candidates good enough to vote for, the last button on every EVM exists to reject them all,” read posters shared by Bhaskar Prabhu, convenor of the Manch, who has been active in citizen engagement for over two decades. In 2000, he established the F South Ward Citizens’ Forum, creating a platform for NGOs to educate residents of Mumbai’s chawls and slum areas about consumer rights, civic participation and democratic choices.