‘Rome wasn’t built in a day but projects should keep moving’

A pitched battle is playing out in the Bandra East assembly constituency, where Varun Sardesai is up against Zeeshan Siddique. Sardesai, nephew of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, is no novice to politics but is a poll debutant. His opponent, Siddique, is the sitting MLA from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the upcoming assembly elections. In an interview, Sardesai told Ateeq Shaikh that he is focusing on redevelopment as his constituency has large slum pockets and where rehousing is a hot-button topic. He also said he doesn’t see any sympathy wave for Siddique despite the tragic events of the recent past. Excerpts:

What issues are you focusing on in your campaign?

Sadly, 90% of this constituency constitutes slum settlements, and there are many stalled SRA projects, like Bharat Nagar and Sant Dhyaneshwar Nagar. Although people have lived in the same place for 50 years, the land, in many instances, belongs to the railways or defence. It is yet to be transferred to the state government. So, redevelopment, and getting people permanent homes, is my focus area.

Would all that be possible within five years?

For the last 50 years, and especially in the last five years during the sitting MLA Mr Zeeshan Siddique’s tenure, things haven’t moved an inch. He was in power first with the MVA and then with the new government and yet he has not been able to get these projects to move by even 5%. People are unhappy. Rome wasn’t built in a day but there should be some progress, at least.

After his father Baba Siddique was shot dead, Zeeshan will benefit from a sympathy wave.

I don’t see any sympathy anywhere, simply because he has not done any work for the last five years. He has not been able to prove himself.

What about the traffic situation, infrastructure, and other issues?

In my manifesto, decongesting railway station areas and traffic are some of my priorities. Since BKC is adjacent, traffic congestion is a challenge for people commuting to and from work. Accessing crowded Bandra, Santa Cruz and Khar railway stations is also a problem. I would like to decongest and make these areas pedestrian-friendly. Apart from slums within the constituency, buildings are also undergoing redevelopment. For 25 years, residents of these and Government Colony buildings have been fighting for permanent houses, similar to the redevelopment of BDD chawls. But that’s not happened yet.

Real estate prices in this locality are rising exponentially, reducing affordability.

That’s what we are fighting for. The original residents should get permanent houses and should not be shifted. In other projects executed in this area, original and new residents are living in harmony. First, the original Bandra East residents should get permanent homes here itself. Others are then welcome to be a part of this area.

Do you think Bharat Nagar’s redevelopment should be taken up as a special case, going with MHAHA instead of the SRA? Should this model be applicable to other similar projects?

For Bharat Nagar, many agreements being used to further the SRA project go back to 1996. So, a lot of people who had signed these agreements are no more. It’s similar to what’s playing out in Dharavi, where many who have been living there for even 30 years, have been declared ineligible for a house in-situ. The government gave people homes 30-40 years ago. They were paying rent to the government. They aren’t slum dwellers. We want Bharat Nagar to be redeveloped the MHADA way.

You are saying in your election rallies that the Adani Group shouldn’t develop the project.

We do not have any personal enmity against Adani. We are against the demonic desire to literally buy out Mumbai. They (Adani) have occupied a large land parcel in the Bandra Kurla Complex. Now, we are hearing that thugs are roaming Bharat Nagar, trying to force people into signing agreements. We are against this.

What if, at a later stage, the Adani Group bags the project through MHADA? Would you be okay with that?

We want local residents to get what they are fighting for. Adani is not a personal enemy. If he wins the contract via MHADA, residents will get what they are fighting for. I don’t see an issue. We don’t want thugs to come to our people’s homes. That’s all I am saying.