Demolitions by BMC, open spaces restored for citizens

Good news for ordinary citizens of Mumbai! Now it remains to be seen how we citizens can enjoy the spaces cleared by BMC.

DEMOLITION IN ANDHERI
‘1,500 illegal structures pulled down’
BMC, Mhada To File Report
Shibu Thomas TNN

Mumbai: One of the biggest demolition operations in the city is drawing to a close, with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) razing around 1,500 illegal structures in Versova and Andheri.
The Bombay high court on Thursday asked the civic corporation and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) to file a compliance report on the demolitions by
June. As of March, 905 structures were demolished in Adarsh Nagar, while 422 were pulled down in Sardar Vallabhai Patel Nagar according to the BMC.
Another 21 societies in the area have been given time up to April 31 to demolish the illegal structures on their own by the Supreme Court, said advocate G W Mattos, counsel for Mhada. “If they fail to remove the unauthorized constructions, the authorities can then initiate demolition proceedings,” added Mattos. The societies, which had been issued demolition notices by Mhada, had contended that they were seeking permission to redevelop their plots and hence should be given time to remove the structures. However, they did not get any reprieve.
The demolitions were undertaken following a public interest litigation filed by city-based organization Disha seeking removal of illegal constructions at SVP Nagar, Adarsh Nagar and Laxmi Industrial Estate located in the Versova-Andheri-Jogeshwari belt.
The colonies were developed in the 1980s, by Mhada, for the low-income group under a World Bank-funded scheme. In SVP Nagar and Adarsh Nagar there are 3,032 and 1,200 plots respectively.
Over the years, the owners, who had formed housing societies, built illegal extensions. Later, Hindi cinema production houses, dance studios and even an acting school came up in the area. A survey conducted by Mhada revealed around 4,000 illegal structures—the societies that had made vertical or horizontal extensions. Many of the mandatory open spaces in the area were encroached upon.

One response to “Demolitions by BMC, open spaces restored for citizens”

Deepak Tralshawala

03/04/2011

This is not enough. I have always said that the BMC officials who have turned a blind eye to the illegal constructions/extensions MUST be proceeded against under the Departmental Conduct Rules, or even at the Courts. The rot begins with the BMC. It has to end there too.

Deepak Tralshawala,
Commissioner of Income Tax (Retd)