Mumbai builder gets stop-work notice as residents flag shrinking Walkeshwar Road
Amid growing concerns among
Malabar Hill residents
over reduction in level and width of
Walkeshwar Road
—which
Mumbai
Mirror had first highlighted on Dec 15, 2024—
BMC
's D ward has issued a stop-work notice to a developer undertaking construction at a site along the same stretch.
The April 26 notice served to architect Preeti Kashyap Barai and developer Dilip Chunilal Chandan pointed out unauthorised erection of building/execution of work at a plot on the road. 'As per a letter received from assistant engineer (building proposal) dated April 25, 2025, the commencement certificate is not endorsed as per last amended plans and you are hereby directed not to start any work of proposed residential building on property bearing CS 156 of
Malabar Hill
division at
Walkeshwar Road
in D Ward till further orders from building proposal department city-I regarding the issue of reduction of RL (road length) of Walkeshwar Road,' it said.
The ward office asked the developer and the architect to submit permission granted by the competent authority in favour of erection of the building or execution of the work in 24 hours, and warned that if construction begins without the requisite permission, it will it pull down and all materials, machinery, equipment, devices or articles used for the work will be removed. It said police were being asked to ensure compliance.
Mumbai Mirror tried to reach out to the developer but there was no response. The architect, Barai, refused to comment.
A ward official said the building proposal department was looking into the matter.
Architect Jashwant Mehta, who has lived in the area for years and first flagged the reduction in the proposed width of Walkeshwar Road, said, 'Unless
BMC
revokes the resolution under which the prescribed road line was reduced—as per Section 297(1)(b) of MMC Act—and does so through the provisions of Sections 520B and 520C in larger public interest, the stop-work notice may not be legally sustainable in HC.' He said the real issue is the long-pending road widening.
'Our goal is to see Walkeshwar Road—from Bandstand to Teen Batti—widened to its originally prescribed width of 27.5m. For 55 years, the municipal corporation made no effort, and the stretch continues to vary between just 13m and 16m.'
Pointing out that there are barely any functional footpaths along the stretch, Mehta, who is also a civil engineer, said, 'We held three meetings, including two at Raj Bhavan andMantralaya, and followed up with a barrage of letters and documentation as our real aim is to ensure that the road is made available to the full width.'
Officials from the building proposal department said the stop-work order is still in place as senior officials are assessing residents' complaints on reduction of road width. 'Till the matter is properly investigated, the stop work stays in place,' said an official.
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