Mumbai: The Mumbai Suburban Collector is soon set to take a final call on revoking the developmental rights from M/s Shah Constructions and vacating the Chitrakoot ground in Andheri West, where a fire station is proposed.
The developmental rights were valid till January 2025; however, till date, the developer has neither started construction of the fire station nor vacated the plot. Moreover, the plot (Chitrakoot ground) continues to be commercially exploited for events like weddings and film shoots.
The 5500 sq mt plot is reserved for the Ambivali fire station under Development Plan 2034. “For over a decade now, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) has been sending reminders and notices to the K-West ward office and M/s Shah Constructions to stop commercial activities and build a fire station. The developer pays no heed, and the ward office has rarely even replied to our notices,” said a senior MFB officer.
“There is a reason the land is reserved for a full-fledged fire station. Considering congestion and the number of high-rises in Andheri West, the fire station is need of the hour,” the officer added.
The FPJ has documents from July 2016 to October 2024 on MFB’s repeated attempts for the development of the fire station, which include a 2016 letter to the BMC law officer to expedite the legal matters regarding the ‘newly proposed construction of Ambivali Fire Station’, letters from 2019 regarding the commencement certificate to the owner, letters from 2021 on acquisition of the plot, minutes of meeting on November 2022 with the suburban collector where the developer had agreed to handover the constructed amenity of fire station, 2023 proposal for development of Ambivali Fire station among others.
Local BJP MLA Ameet Satam, who had a meeting with the suburban collector Rajendra Kshirsagar on Thursday, said, “It’s a long-standing issue and it’s high time it needs to be addressed. The collector said he will confirm with the developer if he will hand over the plot by building the fire station within time limit, or the rights will be revoked.”
“In an attempt to continue holding the land, M/s Shah Constructions has said that it is ‘testing soil’ for building the fire station. The BMC has asked the Collector office to hand over the plot to BMC and the corporation can build the fire station,” a Deputy Fire Officer said.
Notably, this is the same ground where the shooting set of Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor starer film had caught fire in July 2022, in which one person died. Despite the tragic event, the BMC has failed to stop commercial activities, take possession of the plot, and construct the fire station.
At present, the MFB has a small fire station next to Chitrakoot ground, however, it can accommodate not more than one fire engine. The existing station suffices to fight minor fires; however, in case of major fire incidents, the MFB deploys fire engines from other fire stations in the western suburbs, which consumes time to reach the spot during traffic hours and precious time is lost
