Mumbai, Maharashtra:
In Mumbai, sea facing houses are a luxury few can afford, among them Bollywood stars and other multi-millionaires as the cost of such properties in South Mumbai runs into crores of Rupees.
Next week, however, that is set to change. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will hand over the keys to 63 flats in a new 14-storey building on May 26 to junior staff employed at the Raj Bhawan, where the Maharashtra governor lives.
Among those being allotted the flats at minimal cost are gardeners, cleaners and kitchen and other support staff, who live in dilapidated chawls of 100 sq feet each with shared toilets. In 2004, the then Governor Mohammed Fazal asked then Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde of the Congress to demolish the chawls and create a single tower to provide for proper housing to each of the employees.
The new sea-facing flats, built at the same site measure between 360 square feet and 490 square feet. The building has two lifts.
Mr Fadnavis will unveil the building next Tuesday at a function that will be presided over by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao.