Actor Abhijit Kelkar says builder threatens his life over Malad redevelopment, appeals to Fadnavis

Actor Abhijit Kelkar has written in a Facebook post that his life is in danger. His ancestral home is in the Pushpapark, Banadongri area of Malad (East) in Mumbai. He alleges that a builder and a local public representative have their eye on the house, and that attempts are being made to demolish people's homes illegally. Kelkar has sought direct help in the matter from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Kelkar said in the post that no NOC was obtained from the people who own land at the site. For this reason, the owners of the land have gone to court. He asked what would happen if everything were razed to the ground tomorrow and the court stayed the project itself: people would get neither homes nor rent. How, he asked, would the project then be completed?

He raised another issue. A military campus lies next door, and under the COD norms, buildings above a fixed height cannot be permitted within a fixed limit. He also asked what would become of the project if the defence authorities raised an objection after the houses had been pulled down.

According to the post, the builder's goons come day and night to issue threats and are getting local residents to vacate their homes. Incomplete documents are being prepared and the site is being hurriedly demolished in this half-finished manner. People who have lived there for 50 to 60 years and are not afraid of the builder have been declared ineligible through the SRA. Kelkar alleges that goons from the village built unauthorised huts there and got them declared eligible. In his words, this is how the SRA works.

Kelkar publicly asked the so-called public representatives whether the chawl residents would get the homes they are entitled to, and whether those declared ineligible would be made eligible. He asked whether these representatives take responsibility for this. He said that if they give it in writing, he is ready to sign wherever they ask. He asked: "Tell us, do you take responsibility?"

According to Kelkar, all this has been going on for the past six months. He wrote: "My life is in danger. I have left home only after telling my mother, wife and children." He did not name anyone. He says he is fighting for justice and demands that he get the homes he is entitled to. The post has caused considerable stir in film and political circles.