Esplanade Mansion, a UNESCO heritage structure at Kala Road which was constructed 156- years ago was forcibly vacated after the date of deadline by Supreme Court ended.
Mhada officers were sealing building as soon as people vacated. Some people where tenants from pre-independence time moved away with heavy hearts. Nemchand Shah, owner of rented stationary shop said that his family was carrying on the shop from last 62 years and now they have to vacate and rented new shop.
The officials of Mhada opted for police protection as the dilapidated structure was beyond reparations and many parts were not connected to each other. The Bombay High Court seek for IIT report which has been submitted and now final orders are yet to laid down by Court.
Officials said the building has 193 tenanted units, which include law offices, other commercial enterprises and residences. A famous unit is the Army Restaurant, which, along with other shops, was served notices by BMC in March asking them to stop carrying out business as they were putting lives at risk.
Mumtaz Ahmed, owner of Smart and Hollywood, a tailoring shop since 1945 shared many memories of famous film star Sunil Dutt and also their relations with neighboring shop owners. On Friday, when the tenants approached the Bombay high court for measurement of their individual premises, the vacation bench said they should as of now, hand over letters to Mhada mentioning the area they occupy and their office number.
Advocate Ashok Saraogi, the tenants’ lawyer, said that they were concerned about their respective areas and rights over them as they had to vacate the premises.
Courtesy/By: Renu Kathale
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03 Jun 2019
