‘SRA project awarded to firm of CEO’s wife’
In a shocking case, the controversial Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project at Ghatkopar was awarded to a construction firm in which the wife and daughter of Vishwas Patil, SRA Chief Executive Officer, are shareholders.
An inquiry in the project has revealed that around 115 occupants were given houses on forged documents and documents of more than 30 occupants are still being probed.
Rockline Properties was awarded the project in 2008 while Patil was a suburban collector at that time.
According to an ownership document (a copy is with the Free Press Journal) of Rockline properties, Chandrasena Vishwas Patil is one of the directors of the company. The Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued by SRA to the developer for Rs 450 crore SRA project.
The Free Press Journal had reported that around 160 slum dwellers of Pankeshah Baba Dargah were denied houses and 115 names were included in the list of eligible beneficiaries on forged documents.
The 160 slum dwellers claimed that they had approached Patil time and again to look into the matter. They further claimed that they were named in the list of eligible benefici- aries, but then they were ruled out from Annexure 2.
Nasir Khan, a resident of the slum, said, “Instead of including our names in the list, the flats are allotted to each family member of the society’s committee. Parvez Khan, son of the chief promoter of the society, was allotted a flat on the basis of a driving license. Unfortunately, an authority that is responsible for rehabilitating the original residents have given their flats to unauthorised occupants.”
Khan further added, “We want an investigation into the matter since the SRA officials are clearly involved in carrying out irregularities in preparing the list of eligible beneficiaries. Also, a structural audit of the rehab building should be done. The developer has clearly used substandard materials because of which the occupants have been facing problems.”
Patil was unavailable for a comment when tried contacting.
An inquiry into the project has revealed that around 115 occupants were given houses on forged documents and documents of more than 30 occupants are still being probed