Once again, I come to you with an issue raised by the member of our community. Mr. Minoo Nalawalla is a resident of flat no 4 of the Cooper Building, 77/A, Churni wadi, Marine Lines, Mumbai 400 002 since 1998. A wealthy successful Parsi businessman namely, Mr. Cooper & his family was originally the landlord of the Cooper building. He donated the building in an “as is where is” condition to the The Bombay Parsi Punchayet Funds & Properties (BPP) on the demise of his wife about 80 years ago. The said building was/is a cosmopolitan building. Room No 6 in the said building was occupied by a tenant Mrs. Emily Rodrigues who surrendered her tenancy rights of the said flat to the BPP in December 2003 for a consideration of Rupees One Lakh Ninety Thousand paid to her by the BPP. The said flat remained vacant till January 2013. The flat remained locked for a period of ten years without any occupancy, where the BPP claims that it has a long waiting list for housing and accommodation. In spite of several needy Parsi/Irani Zoaroastrians in the community who would have wanted a roof over their heads, the flat was kept locked for ten years. The said flat was finally given in January 2013 to Mr. Chavan, an advocate by profession working with the BPP. The flat was sold/given to him on permanent basis for a rent of Rs. 1500/month. Mr. Chavan also paid BPP, Rs. 30,00,000/- towards full and final settlement on a condition that when redevelopment would take place, he would get a 300 sq. ft. flat on an ownership basis instead of the existing 212 sq. ft. on a leave and license. The re-development of the building is likely to happen by approximately 2014. On re-development the said flat would fetch at more than a crore. Why then was the flat given away at a throw away price to Mr. Chavan? Mr. Nallawalla’s son Zubin had applied to the BPP for an accommodation while room no 6 was lying vacant. He has been on wait list since then. The question then arises is that is there any other consideration/reason for which this flat was given to Mr. Chavan? Should premises in a cosmopolitan building owned by BPP, donated by a Zoroastrian be occupied by cosmopolitan tenants or be first offered to Parsi/Irani Zoaroastrians with a public notice when flats/shops/garages become vacant? For the past 80 years, the BPP has been in possession of the building. The Tenants have been charged a 100% service charge of the rent paid by them in spite of being on a Leave & License. The building stands in a pathetic & dilapidated condition. No repairs or maintenance has been carried out to the building for a very long time even after charging a 100% service charge to the tenants. At the time of allotment of the flat to Mr. Nallawalla he had paid an amount of Rupees 25,000/- towards maintenance of the building. When questioned by MHADA on the dilapidated condition of the building, the BPP vide their letter dated February 27, 2012 bearing reference no ESTB/356 assured the MHADA that the repairs to the building would be carried out by the trust through their Architects/Contractors at the earliest. The building still is in the same condition with no repair work carried out at all (Photographs attached). Mr. Minoo Nalawalla, had signed a leave & License agreement in the year 1998 at the time of allotment of the flat. However, he was asked to sign a fresh leave & License agreement meant for Zoroastrian tenants in 2010 which said that a non-Parsi could not reside in the premises. Since Mr. Minoo Nalawalla is married to a non-Parsi which is known to the BPP, Mr. Nalawalla refused to sign the agreement. The BPP has two sets off Leave & License agreements one for Zoroastrian tenants & the other for cosmopolitan tenants. Why then was Mr. Nalawalla given an agreement copy for Zoroastrian tenants and not for cosmopolitan tenants in 2010. However, after confronting the trustees he was given the agreement copy for non- Zoroastrians in May 2013 only. Since the agreement was under dispute, the BPP stopped accepting Mr. Nalawalla’s rent since 2012 to date. In my letter to the BPP dated 29 May 2013, I raised the above questions to the BPP, which have not yet been answered by them. The BPP has appointed a Public Relation Officer (PRO) on a full time basis. Why then is it that the people of the community are unable to have their problems addressed? Regards, Mehernosh Fitter. CELL:9892301884. mehernoshfitter@gmail ========================================================= * Hormazd Dadari, ahriman marochinidari - Ardibehest Yasht Nirang * Ahura Mazda is the Creator, the evil one the destroyer * Fellow Mazdayasni Zarathushtris, please dont destroy your religion. * Hormazd Dadari, ahriman marochinidari - Ardibehest Yasht Nirang * Ahura Mazda is the Creator, the evil one the destroyer * Fellow Mazdayasni Zarathushtris, please dont destroy your religion. ========================================================
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 17:47:16 +0000
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