STUCK IN RED TAPE | Land acquired, but J&K Bhawan construction hits roadblock in Mumbai

Srinagar, Mar 28:  Over a year after acquiring land to construct a dedicated facility for residents of Jammu and Kashmir in the country’s financial capital, the J&K Bhawan project in Mumbai has made little progress beyond paperwork.

The lack of proper government accommodation is forcing J&K residents, including cancer patients travelling to Mumbai for treatment, to incur huge costs for private rentals.

Officials said that currently, the J&K government has only five guest rooms available in the state for its residents.

A major portion of the government’s property in the upscale Malabar Hill area in Mumbai has been leased out to a private construction firm for 90 years since 1991.

According to government documents, “A total of 5802 square yards of J&K government land at Malabar Hills is on lease with M/S Sangvi Construction Company, Mumbai for 90 years with effect from June 1, 1991. The lessee has constructed a 24-storey building over the land which has 12 duplex housing flats in it. One flat has been given to RC Office, Mumbai, as per agreement. Besides a part of the leased land at Malabar Hills has been further transferred by the lessee to United Bank of India for construction of a bank branch.

“The J&K government has the duplex flat measuring 5672 sq ft situated on the 2nd floor on this land. This flat was acquired on April 10, 2002, as a result of arbitration with M/S Sangvi Construction Pvt Ltd. It houses a guest house comprising two VIP suites plus three guestrooms and has been used as a guest house since 2002.”

In 2020, a proposal for Bhawan was approved by then Lt Governor G C Murmu and an amount of around Rs 5 crore was released for the purchase of half-an-acre land at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai.

In 2023, the J&K government took over the possession of 4 kanal of land in Sector 16, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai from CIDCO Maharashtra for the construction of the new J&K Bhawan.

A senior official said that while the land for the new J&K Bhawan has been taken into possession and boundary walls constructed, some bureaucratic issues had now been resolved.

“The Public Works Department will start construction soon. With the new airport coming up at Navi Mumbai, this Bhawan will be of great help for residents of J&K seeking accommodation there,” the official said. “About 30 to 40 cancer patients from J&K visit Mumbai daily and face a lot of hardships in finding proper accommodation,” the senior official said. “The proposal to set up the ‘J&K Bhawan’ in Mumbai was mooted in 1992, but there was no proper follow up on that for decades.”

He said that once finally constructed, the Bhawan would provide the much-needed accommodation not just for cancer patients, but also businessmen from J&K who frequently travel to Mumbai.

“It will also house the offices of the J&K Resident Commissioner and Tourism Department under one roof, serving as a vital nerve centre for J&K’s activities in the financial capital,” the official said.

The Maharashtra Bhawan – the first state Bhawan in Kashmir – would come up in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

The Maharashtra cabinet sanctioned the purchase of the land.