State to build 2 residential towers for judges in SoBo

MUMBAI: Faced with a housing shortage for lower court judges, the state government will soon construct two residential high rises of 34 storeys with 128 flats. The Worli division of the Public Works Department issued the tender last week.

The construction of the towers which will cost ₹124 crore is estimated for completion within two to three years.

Lower courts include labour, city civil, family, sessions, and Metropolitan Magistrates. And most of its judges currently reside in the government quarters at Haji Ali and Malabar Hill as well as Bandra Government Colony.

The upcoming construction site is located next to the Mazgaon court, which was redeveloped as the earlier one was in derelict shape.

Since it is a government project, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has given a floor space index (FSI) of 4. The FSI is an equation to determine how high a structure can be built on the available land and how much would be the buildable area.

The total built-up area of the plot will be 29228. 51 square metres and a four-storey podium will be 7458.15 square metres.

“Some of the judges live in absolutely bad conditions in government quarters, hence after discussion in a meeting of chief minister with chief justice during the tenure of Fadnavis led BJP government, a decision was taken to construct three BHK flats for judges at Mazgaon,’’ said a government officer.

The Mazgaon court, a five-storeyed building was constructed in 1997 and due to poor construction quality, the building was declared dilapidated. In 2015, the state passed a proposal to construct a 17-storeyed court with 46 courtrooms at Mazgaon.

In 2021, the state law and judiciary department has given administrative approvals to two housing complexes of judges at Malabar Hill and Mazgaon that will together cost the government ₹440 crore.

The judicial complex at Mazgaon will have rooftop solar electric generation units and rainwater harvesting. The government had also sanctioned the redevelopment of Land’s End in the Malabar Hill area and given administrative approval for a housing complex for HC judges there. The plot presently houses bungalows and is known as the Rocky Hill complex. The tender for the Malabar hill complex for 56 judges was issued a few months back for ₹284 crore.

Some judges live in bad conditions. Hence, a decision was taken to build the two towers

A GOVERNMENT OFFICER,