BDD Chawl Redevelopment: Relief To Police Personnel; Housing Minister Announces Reduction In Prices Of Homes

On Monday, June 27, Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad declared that the price of homes after the redevelopment of BDD Chawls has been curtailed to INR 25 lakhs from INR 50 lakhs. This comes as a prominent relief to the 2,250 police personnel from the BDD Chawl. Tenants had put up a strong opposition and had asked that the state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray intervene to revise the price, reports stated. 

Awhad took to Twitter to mention, "On the advice of Hon'ble Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and my leader Sharad Pawar, #BDD retired police personnel in Chali were given permanent house names. Now the houses will be given for Rs 25 lakh instead of Rs 50 lakh. Now vacate the house and let the project go ahead". 

माननीय मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव ठाकरेजी आणि माझे नेते शरद पवारसाहेब ह्यांच्या सल्ल्या नुसार #BDD चाळी तील निवृत्त पोलिस कर्मचाऱ्यांना कायम स्वरूपी घर नावावर करून देण्यात आले
आता ती घर 50 लाख ऐवजी 25 लाख रुपयात देण्यात येतील
आता घर रिकामी करा आणि प्रकल्प पुढे जाऊद्यात #24तास_जनतेसाठी

— Dr.Jitendra Awhad (@Awhadspeaks) June 27, 2022

Likewise, cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray who is also elected from the Worli assembly seat tweeted, "Today is an important and happy moment! The problem of BDD scam was solved after 25 years. BDD Chawl Worli, Naigaon and Chief Minister ‍Uddhav Thackeray has announced that the construction cost of houses for Joshi brothers at Joshi Marg has been reduced from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 25 lakh."

He added, "Sharad Pawar, Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad, Sunil Shinde, Sachin Bhau, Ashish Chemburkar, I ... all of us together had solved the long pending issue here."

आज महत्त्वाचा आणि आनंदाचा क्षण आहे!

बीडीडी चाळीचा प्रश्न तब्बल २५ वर्षांनी मार्गी लागला. बीडीडी चाळ वरळी, नायगाव आणि एन. एम. जोशी मार्ग येथील पोलीस बांधवांना मिळणाऱ्या घरांचा बांधकाम खर्च ५० लाखांवरून कमी करून २५ लाख केल्याचे मुख्‍यमंत्री उद्धव ठाकरे जी यांनी जाहिर केली आहे. pic.twitter.com/LF8T2mUwr4

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) June 27, 2022

Earlier, Awhad had proclaimed that the homes will be priced at INR 50 lakh. However, this was protested by the representative body of the police. Awhad nonetheless had justified the price by claiming that the construction cost of each house in the BDD Chawl is nearly INR 1.05 crore to INR 1.15 crore. He elaborated on how the MHADA decided to provide residences to 2250 police personnel for INR 50 lakh each, accounts mention. 

Based on narratives, the CM reviewed the redevelopment of BDD Chawl at Naigaon, NM Joshi Marg and Worli and remarked that the police will be given houses at the construction rate after the redevelopment. In light of this, he asked the housing department to undertake the requisite action and urged the residents to cooperate. 

It has been reported, however, that the police personnel were adamant about the price reduction and took the matter ahead with the CM, his son and Awhad.