Pranav Birje | Senior Correspondent
Tardeo: In South Mumbai’s Tardeo area, residents of the high-rise Willingdon View Co-operative Housing Society from the 17th to the 34th floor are in a state of uncertainty regarding the upcoming Ganesh Utsav celebrations. Fear of losing their homes looms over them since the court has ordered them to vacate their flats within three weeks due to the absence of an Occupation Certificate (OC) for these floors.
In this situation, former MP Gopal Shetty has stepped in to protect the residents’ homes. He has assured them that he will legally fight every complication to save their roof.
Gopal Shetty, while meeting with the society residents, assured them that they will not be rendered homeless and that, with Lord Ganesha’s blessings, their building might even receive an OC during the festive season, ending the matter once and for all.
Speaking to the media, Shetty said that Guardian Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha is currently out of the city, but on Wednesday, he will be meeting with the BMC Commissioner to discuss the issue.
Shetty further explained that the society residents have already completed all the required procedures under both old and new rules to obtain the OC. Moreover, according to one of the corporation’s regulations, people can still reside in their homes even without an OC. Therefore, with proper effort, the society could get its OC within three weeks, since the process for the Fire NOC has already been completed. Now it is up to the authorities to fulfill their duties at the earliest. If this does not happen, Shetty warned, he and other supporting leaders might take to the streets.
Meanwhile, the residents of the building expressed their trust in MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha and former MP Gopal Shetty, believing that both will help them secure the OC. They also demanded that in the future, strict legal action should be taken against builders who sell flats without obtaining an OC so that no other homebuyers face the same ordeal as those in Willingdon.
Society Chairman Narendra Bhandari said, “We were worried about celebrating Ganesh Utsav as the court gave us only three weeks to vacate our flats, and the deadline is approaching. If we don’t receive the OC, how will we celebrate our festival? But with the assurances given by Gopal Shetty and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, we are confident that our OC will be issued soon, and we will not have to vacate our homes.”