Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday inaugurated the first phase of the Worli BDD Chawl Redevelopment Project, a landmark initiative touted as one of Asia’s largest urban renewal programme. The event, held at Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha in Matunga (West), saw Fadnavis hand over keys to newly constructed flats to 556 eligible residents. Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, along with senior minister and officials, were present at the ceremony.

Details Of The Mega Project

The redevelopment, undertaken by MHADA’s Mumbai Housing and Area Development Board, marks a historic step in rehabilitating long-time chawl residents into modern homes. The first phase covers residents from D and E wings of Building No. 01. Currently, 9,689 residents from 121 old chawls in Worli are set to be rehabilitated, with 65 per cent of the total land earmarked for this purpose.

Eligible residents, who previously lived in 160 sq ft rooms, are being provided ownership of spacious 2BHK flats with a carpet area of 500 sq ft, completely free of cost. The redevelopment plan envisions 34 rehabilitation towers of 40 storeys each, each flat coming with a stilt-plus-six-level podium parking and landscaped gardens on the seventh floor.

A Self-Sufficient Modern Township

The ambitious project will create a self-contained township with facilities such as a commercial complex, schools, hospitals, gyms, hostels, and sustainable infrastructure including sewage treatment plants, solar energy systems and rainwater harvesting. MHADA will maintain the rehabilitated buildings for the next 12 years.

In a nod to the BDD’s century-old legacy, heritage spaces like Jamboree Maidan and Ambedkar Maidan will be preserved, and one old chawl building will be converted into a museum to showcase the history of BDD chawls.

Transit Support & Expansion Plans

Residents have been moved to temporary transit accommodations or have opted for a monthly rent allowance. Eligible occupants are receiving an advance rent of Rs 25,000 per month for 11 months.

By December this year, MHADA aims to complete an additional 3,989 flats across all three BDD redevelopment sites, Worli, N.M. Joshi Marg and Naigaon. Across the 86-acre project footprint, 207 chawls housing 15,593 residents are slated for redevelopment. The N.M. Joshi Marg site will include 14 rehabilitation buildings for 2,560 units, while Naigaon (Dadar) will feature 20 rehabilitation buildings for 3,344 units.

Mumbai: A 32-year-old police constable lost his life after being struck by a train at Nalasopara station on the Western Line of Mumbai’s suburban local train network. The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon while attempting to cross the tracks in a rush to work. The victim, Ganesh Raul, was attached to the Samata Nagar police station in Kandivali and lived in Nalasopara with his wife and children.

Raul Was Running Late, Hence Attempted To Cross Tracks Directly

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Kailash Barve, Raul had requested permission to report to duty late that day. Already behind schedule, he chose to skip the foot overbridge and tried to cross directly from the tracks to catch his regular Churchgate-bound train from platform 4. Around 2:30 pm, a Virar-bound train hit him, leaving him with severe injuries.

The station master immediately alerted the Government Railway Police (GRP) and called for an ambulance. However, Raul succumbed to his injuries en route to the hospital, Senior Police Inspector Bhagwan Dange of Vasai GRP confirmed that an accidental death report was registered.

In a separate incident on Monday evening, a 30-year-old man suffered critical burns after coming into contact with an overhead electric wire while travelling on the roof of a Harbour Line local from Wadala to Panvel. The injured man, identified as Ankur Pandey, had climbed onto the train roof at Mankhurd.

As the train reached Vashi station at around 5:10 pm, Pandey reportedly touched the live wire, triggering a rescue effort by fellow passengers and railway police. Viral videos show three to four passengers climbing onto the train to pull him down.

Pandey was rushed to Vashi Municipal Hospital and later shifted to J.J. Hospital for advanced care. Police suspect he may have climbed onto the roof intending to end his life. “We are tracing his relatives and investigating the motive,” said Vashi Railway Police Senior Inspector Kiran Undare.

Jalgaon: Suleman Rahim Khan Pathan, a 21-year-old man, was killed through beating in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. The incident occurred on Monday when Suleman traveled to Jamner to complete online applications for police recruitment. In the afternoon, as he sat in a cafe with a girl, 8 to 10 men grabbed his mobile phone and unexpectedly assaulted him.

They pulled Suleman to his village and violently assaulted him, making him lose consciousness. When his relatives attempted to rescue him, the assailants reacted with violence towards them as well. Suleman’s 80-year-old grandfather was also affected. The assailants showcased him on the street and struck him with wooden clubs.

Suleman was taken to the hospital by his villagers, where he was pronounced dead by doctors. His father stated that his son was not dating any girl, and during the confrontation, the villagers were unable to assist because of their fear.

According to Suleman’s father, Rahim Khan, on the day of the incident Suleman was working with his father, when around 11 am Suleman told his father he is going to fill up a Police recruitment form after which the people kidnapped and beat him. The people was brought to his home at around 4pm. When the father tried to intervene the mob started attacking him and other members of the family.

Police Arrests 8 Suspects

The authorities have apprehended 8 suspects related to this case up to now. The initial four suspects were apprehended on Tuesday: Abhishek Rajkumar Rajput (22), Ghanshyam also known as Suraj Biharilal Sharma (25), Deepak Bajirao (20), and Ranjan also referred to as Ranjit Ramakrishna Matade (48).

While the other four were taken into custody on Wednesday. All the defendants have been placed in police detention until August 18. The arrests were confirmed by the inspector of the Jamner police station.