Mumbai real estate: BDD Chawl residents to upgrade to 2BHK flats by March 2025

MUMBAI: Picture this. A living space in a typical chawl cramped with limited privacy where a single room of 160 sq ft serves as both bedroom and kitchen. Outside, a toilet shared with 20 other families adds to the discomfort and lack of hygiene.
BDD chawl residents in Worli have been living in this congestion, sans modern amenities and sanitation for decades now. But come March 2025, the first batch of residents of Rehab Building 1 will be handed their self-contained 500-sq-ft flats—a significant upgrade to a new lifestyle of privacy and comfort.
The Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (Mhada) has taken up the task of redeveloping three BDD chawls at Worli, Naigaum and Parel in central Mumbai at a total cost of ₹16,000 crore. Built between 1920 and 1925 through the Bombay Development Department, the chawls were among the first batches of affordable urban housing for migrant workers who worked in the textile mills, docks and railways.
On Tuesday, Hindustan Times was given a sneak peek into Rehab Building No 1, whose eight wings will rehabilitate 2,246 tenants. Each rehab tenement has a living room, a master bedroom with attached bathroom, a second bedroom with a separate bathroom and a designated area for a washing machine and dining. Amenities such as a club house, school, hospital, playground, library, welfare centre, dispensary, society office and community hall will be provided.
A representative from Tata Projects, the contractor appointed by Mhada, told HT, “There are eight towers, labelled A to H, each of 40 storeys. Floors 1 to 8 have four flats each, while Floors 9 to 40 have eight flats each. In case of an emergency, refuge areas are provided on the 15th, 22nd, 29th, and 36th floors. Every room is equipped with fire boxing and a sprinkler system for fire emergencies. Each flat has a designated parking space in accordance with the allocated area. Currently, eight buildings are complete.”
Mahindra Bansode, who lives in a BDD chawl opposite the newly constructed 40-storey rehab building, said that he and his family were to be relocated in one of the wings. “There are 80 tenants living in the old chawl, which was built in 1924 as a ground-plus-three structure,” he said. “I am a fourth-generation resident. I live with my family of three in a single room with a shared toilet. In some rooms, there are up to eight people.”
Bansode said his family would be rehoused in the new tower across the street. “Mhada plans to first relocate residents currently in the transit camp at Century Bazaar in March,” he said. “We will be shifted at a later date.”
In the area near Mahindra Tower in Worli, the RCC work of seven wings from B to H is complete and some finishing work is in progress. Wings D & E of Rehab Building No 1 are proposed to be handed over in March 2025 while the remaining flats will be given in December 2025.
“Three of the old chawl buildings will fit into just one wing of a tower,” said another resident. “Our main concern is parking, as 80 residents have two-wheelers. No one owns a four-wheeler. We are middle-class people.”
Nikhil More, another resident, spoke about the chawl’s history. “The chawls were once jails for the British,” he said. “My great-grandfather, who came here 70 years ago, worked in a mill. Today, we use the corridor as a space for celebrating birthdays, and there is a large open area between the buildings where our children play. The common water supply room, called the ‘mori’, has now been converted into a community hall.”
More also pointed out that the stereotype equating chawl residents with slum dwellers was incorrect. “Most of us are gainfully employed, working in government jobs, the BMC, police, central railway, Customs or the private sector,” he said. “We are distinctly middle class.”
Bansode said that all the residents were excited about the move. “We’ve spent our lives living in one poorly ventilated room, sometimes crammed with 20 to 25 people,” he said. “Now we will have more privacy. We are really looking forward to a better quality of life.”