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The Bombay High Court has temporarily halted the distribution of 80 transit apartments in MHADA's Bombay Dyeing Mill redevelopment project, providing relief to over 35 former mill workers. The workers alleged irregularities, including "double allotments," and claimed only six of the 11 buildings on the site were allocated to them, violating Development Control Regulations. The petitioners demanded all 240 apartments in the current construction be reserved for workers, citing a lengthy waiting list. This case underscores the ongoing housing struggles of Mumbai's mill workers, who have sought accommodations since the mills' closure. The court will review the matter in February 2025 to ensure compliance with housing regulations.
The Bombay High Court has halted the distribution of 80 transit tenements in a redevelopment project run by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), which is a huge relief to more than 35 former employees of the Bombay Dyeing Mill. The petitioners, a group of former employees, went to court alleging that the allocation method had several anomalies, including "double allotments." Advertisement
According to the petition, on December 9, 2014, MHADA received the more than 33,000 square meter property of the Bombay Dyeing Mill (Spring Mill) in Wadala for renovation. 5,136 apartments were to be set aside for the mill workers as part of this project; the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorized this action. The petitioners, however, drew attention to the fact that only six buildings were erected on one-third of the worker-designated area. The erection of a 240-tenement structure with only 160 apartments designated for mill workers was especially concerning. Given the high number of workers on the waiting list, the workers petitioned for the remaining 80 tenements to be set aside for them as well, as this left 80 apartments that might be used for other purposes.
Although MHADA built 11 buildings on the site, only six of them were designed for the mill workers, who must have a third of the land in rehabilitation projects, according to the Development Control Regulations (DCR). The 80 transit apartments in one of the buildings that were being built, the petitioners stressed, were essential for housing the workers who had been waiting for a place to live. They therefore requested that the court postpone the distribution of these apartments until the case was thoroughly examined.
This court case is a part of Mumbai's long history of housing conflicts for mill workers. The Textile Mill in Prabhadevi and the Spring Mills in Dadar Naigaon, Wadala, are two facilities owned by the Bombay Dyeing Mill that are being redeveloped. The Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company owns the freehold land on which the mills are located. Following approval from the Maharashtra Commissioner of Labor, the Spring Mills in Dadar were shut down in November 2004. Since then, the mill workers have been waiting for a place to live.
The petitioners have been instructed to serve more copies of their petition to the register within two weeks, and the court has scheduled the next hearing for February 5, 2025. Failure to do so may lead to the case being dismissed. The division bench, which included Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata, adjourned the case and ordered a stay on the allocation of the 80 apartments after hearing arguments from attorneys Meghna Gowalani and Milind More.
The petitioners had filed for accommodation under the Bombay Dyeing Mill Workers accommodation Scheme, along with 35 other former employees including Gopal Baburao Shelar, who is 67 years old. The state, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the Housing Department, the BMC, MHADA, and the Bombay Dyeing Mill are all parties to the continuing litigation. The matter will continue to be heard in February, and all of these agencies are parties to it.
The former mill workers now have a brief reprieve after the Bombay High Court decided to halt the allocation of 80 transit apartments in the Bombay Dyeing Mill redevelopment project. Given the long waiting list of mill workers, these workers have been pushing for the reservation of all 240 apartments in the continuing construction to accommodate their housing demands. The court will carefully review the case at its next hearing, which is set for February 2025, and make sure that the mill workers are given their fair share of housing in accordance with the rules. The persistent battle of Mumbai's mill workers to gain their proper position in the city's reconstruction efforts is highlighted by this case.
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