Savarkar’s Dadar bungalow may be razed soon

Mumbai: Savarkar Sadan, the erstwhile residence of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar which served as the venue for meetings that altered the course of India’s history, may soon be pulled down to make way for a new building.

Three independent sources confirmed to Hindustan Times that residents had consented to redevelopment of the property and some had even sold their apartments to a developer.

“The exterior of the building looks alright as it has been painted recently. But internally, the structure is crumbling and there are frequent instances of water seepage,” said one of the three sources who requested anonymity. The Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak Trust was trying to get more space on the mezzanine floor of the redeveloped building for a larger museum dedicated to Savarkar; they also want to retain the name, Savarkar Sadan, for the mezzanine floor, the sources added.

But some Savarkar followers are opposed to redevelopment of the historic property and have approached courts and government bodies seeking heritage status and a ‘monument of national importance’ tag for the building.

“If the BJP is serious about respecting Savarkar, they should give heritage status to Savarkar Sadan without any delay,” Prof Pankaj Phadnis, a Savarkar admirer and former resident of the building told HT.

Savarkar Sadan was constructed as a two-storey bungalow in 1938 on a plot measuring around 405 square metres in Dadar’s Shivaji Park. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, founder of Abhinav Bharat Society, a secret grouping of Hindutva activists, and a leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha, a political party, lived here. He met several top leaders at the bungalow, including Subhas Chandra Bose in 1940, and Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte in 1948, before they left for Delhi to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi.

Savarkar’s descendants continued to live in the building after his death in 1966. In the 1980s and early 1990s, three floors were added to the two-storey bungalow courtesy the regime of Transferable Development Rights (TDR), which enabled developers to construct floors above existing buildings.

The ownership of the building is split between several parties. The Hindutva ideologue’s descendants, including his youngest daughter-in-law Sundar Vishwas Savarkar, 93, live on the first floor. Anjali and Vijay Kambe own part of the ground and first floors and the entire fifth floor, while Pravin Shah owns the second and third floor. The Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak Trust owns only one room on the ground floor, which serves as a mini museum, housing various trophies, outfits, and memorabilia connected with Savarkar.

As per redevelopment rules, 51% residents of a building need to consent to its redevelopment and all the owners of Savarkar Sadan, barring the trust, are either in the process of entering into an agreement with a developer or have already transferred their rights, three independent sources told HT in separate conversations, requesting anonymity.

Manjiri Marathe, an office-bearer of the trust confirmed that several residents were in talks with a builder for redevelopment. “We have heard about the building’s redevelopment, though we do not have any proposal as yet,” she told HT.

Discussions regarding the impending redevelopment were held during the trust’s annual general meeting in December 2024, said sources. Subsequently, the trust sought a proposal from the builder, asking for more space on the mezzanine and demanding that the floor retain the building’s name, Savarkar Sadan.

“These plans are still in the discussion stage and nothing has been finalised,” said Marathe.

Trustee Ranjit Savarkar, however, said, “I am unaware about any such development. It’s a private property.” Another trustee, former director general of police Praveen Dixit refused to comment on the subject.

The builder who has evinced interest in redeveloping the property is close to a political family that espouses the cause of Marathi, one of the sources quoted earlier told HT. Two plots adjacent to Savarkar Sadan will be amalgamated in the redevelopment project, the sources said. These include the plot that houses Laxmi Sadan, once home to the renowned classical vocalist Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, and the plot facing Chhatrapati Shivaji Park.

In 2008, a public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay high court seeking heritage status for Savarkar Sadan. In January 2009, the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recommended the building be given “Grade II A” heritage status, pertaining to buildings/ precincts of regional/ local importance possessing special architectural/ aesthetic merits or cultural/ historical significance. No modification is allowed to the exteriors of such structures while internal changes and adaptive re-use is allowed subject to strict scrutiny.

The proposal to classify Savarkar Sadan as a “Grade II A” heritage structure has been awaiting approval from the state urban development department since 2011. Back then, BJP leader Nitin Gadkari also had recommended the same, but to no avail. The BJP has been in power in the state four times in the interim – from October 2014 to November 2019, for five days in November 2019, from June 2022 to December 2024, and since December 2024 – but has not approved the proposal.

Prof Phadnis, a former resident of the building, said, “Respecting the will of Mr Savarkar (to let the Sadan be a private property), the existing owners should be fairly compensated by the government of Maharashtra or whosoever takes it up for preservation.”

Phadnis is also the founder and president of Abhinav Bharat Congress, a think tank which has moved a petition in the Delhi high court seeking amendment in the rules pertaining to ‘monuments of national importance’.

As per the rules, any structure or place of historical, archaeological or artistic interest must have been in existence for at least 100 years for it to be declared a ‘monument of national importance’. Since Savarkar Sadan may not exist in its original form till 2038, the rules must be changed to classify it as a monument of national importance and preserve its rich history.