Residents feel gaining a heritage tag might save the village from those who would claim it for redevelopment, but it would also prevent them from repairing their houses.
Having lived alone for years, 69-year-old Mable Rebello single-handedly manages her century-old cottage. Its architecture bears Portuguese influence, with big windows, wooden staircases, a sloping Mangalorian tile roof and a jutting veranda.
When asked how she spends her day, Rebello says, “I eat, drink and sleep. The woman is determined to preserve her property that was passed down generations, but is currently embroiled in a dispute. Such is the quaint and peaceful lifestyle of Pali village in Bandra suburb, with at least a hundred vintage houses, that it recalls the time of the early East Indian settlers in Bombay.
Nestled amidst tall buildings, sprawling bungalows and high-end cafes of Bandra West, this 300-year-old hamlet, which stretches from Ambedkar road to 16th road, is among the last surviving gaothans of Mumbai, along with the neighbouring gaothans of Chuim, Shirley Rajan and Ranwar a little further away.
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These cottages have over the past few years found themselves under the pressure of redevelopment and urbanisation, resulting in gated housing societies and commercial complexes within the village.
With the younger generation having migrated out of the city for greener pastures and with the houses in a dilapidated condition, maintenance is a costly affair.
Over the past few decades, Pali village has evolved into a cosmopolitan space with people from various communities such as Muslims, Gujaratis, Mangalorians and Bengalis now inhabiting the once purely East Indian settlement.
Caught up in Mumbai’s cluster redevelopment plans and heritage guidelines, the village has seen its residents clash and communal celebrations wither away.
The village was considered for heritage precinct status by the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) earlier in the decade, but some residents have come together and resisted the move as it restrains their right to redevelop or repair their properties.
“Outside vested interests have created a buzz that these buildings be declared heritage, but there is no heritage value in these structures,” said Faizal Farooqui, member of Pali Village Resident Civic Forum (PVRCF), one of the oldest advanced locality management groups in Bandra.
“Having a heritage tag on our houses would mean we cannot do any repair or renovation in the existing structure. How would we live in this crumbling house then,” says Mary Pereira, 55, owner of a 200-year-old house, which until last year was supported largely by bamboo poles, but now has plastered walls.
The usual complaints about builders eyeing these prime properties, construction of unauthorised multi-storey buildings that violate the permissible limits and a general running down of the once serene area, are common. Vivian Pereira, a young freelance photographer, says, “The narrow streets, now congested with parked cars, used to be empty for adults to stroll and children to play once upon a time. It has changed. Parking is the biggest headache now.”
“If a person is in critical health, an ambulance can’t come inside. Neither can a fire brigade in case of an emergency in the neighbourhood,” says Glenn Coelho, 67, resident of the newly constructed West Wind apartment in the village. Looking at the prevalent pressures from the realty lobbies, 65-year-old Adlord Concessio wants “houses to come under heritage, for then at least nobody will come and claim them in the name of re-development”.
Living in their 150-year-old cottage, antique collector Wilfy D’Sylvia and his wife June, seem popular among the neighbours and are mostly found sitting on their porch, brightly greeting passersby. Amidst the woes that have hovered over this close-knit village in recent times, the octogenarian D’Sylvia, believes in little traditions like the occasional exchange of sweets and rosary gatherings at the stone Cross that was built in 1818 around a corner of the village, and counts them as blessings, as these gestures continue to bring people together.
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Postcard from a Mumbai village: Century-old legacy rests on one heir
Source: Indian Express