Sena corporator says 324 Satrasta BIT chawl families homeless for 13 years, threatens fast
Sandhya Doshi told the BMC House that developers and estate department officials stalled the BIT chawl redevelopment, and the Mayor ordered an inquiry.
The stalled redevelopment of the BIT chawls at Satrasta was raised in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation House. Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) corporator Sandhya Doshi sharply criticised officials of the estate department and the developers. She alleged that developers Anand Vilayanur and Jaisal Ajmera, in collusion with civic officials, kept 324 Marathi families homeless for 13 years and cheated them financially. She also warned that she would sit on a hunger strike with the residents during the coming Navratri if they did not get justice.
Raising a point of objection in the House, Doshi said the redevelopment of BIT chawls No. 1 to 4 is with the developer "Anand Villanur". The project has been stalled for 13 years. The developer has not given the 324 tenants their rightful homes. She said he also defaulted on Rs 38 crore in monthly rent and a corpus fund of Rs 15.7 crore.
Doshi said the promise of giving the society 4,000 sq ft of space has not been kept, and the registration of 252 residents has not been done. She alleged that the developer, in collusion with estate department officials, made illegal changes to the building plan. She said the LOI (letter of intent) had expired, having run from 2013 to 2023, yet he obtained illegal approval by keeping officials in the dark. She pointed out that although the High Court granted a stay on May 7, 2025, the administration did not cancel the developer's LOI.
She further said that Villanur entered into an illegal joint venture agreement with another developer, "Ajmera", without taking the residents' consent. She said she had exposed how the two developers together illegally sold 96 flats in the redeveloped building on their own. She said residents of the "Sky 31" building in Wadala have filed a financial offence case against Villanur in connection with a Rs 100 crore scam, and that the High Court has declared him "wanted" (absconding). She expressed anger that the civic administration is shielding a developer with such a criminal background.
She said false FIRs are being filed against residents demanding their rights. She said the builder is also trying to get them dismissed from their jobs by giving wrong information to their workplaces, and called this low-level politics.
Doshi warned the administration sternly that if the 324 Marathi families do not get justice and are forced into a hunger strike during the coming Navratri, she herself would sit on the fast with them outside the chamber. Taking immediate note, Mayor Ritu Tawde gave the administration strict orders to conduct a thorough inquiry and take appropriate action. The Mayor also directed that Doshi's point of objection be kept pending until a detailed report on the matter is presented in the House.
