Razing illegal structures not an easy task
Times of India , 26th Dec 2009
S Balakrishnan | TNN
Mumbai: The Bombay high court recently placed the onus of ensuring the legality of the flats on the purchasers. But the case of Tilak Nagar residents in Chembur shows how difficult it is to get illegal structures demolished. For more than one-and-a-halfyears the BMC’s M/west ward office of the is trying to demolish a seven-storeyed unauthorised building, but without much success.
Building no. 29 in Tilak Nagar was demolished for redevelopment by Paradise and Bhoomi Developers as per an agreement with Bharat Cooperative Housing Society. All the 36 tenants were rehoused
in A wing of the new building and 42 flats in B wing were to be sold. In late 2007, the residents found work on a totally new wing—C—in progress in the compound.
A resident of B wing, Sophia Sawant, filed an RTI application in January, 08. The BMC permitted her to inspect the building plans etc and it was found that the new structure was unauthorised. Following Sawant’s complaint, the BMC initiated action against builder Javed Memon, chairman of the society, Kumud Jaykar and secretary Mohan Pednekar under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act. All three were arrested and released on bail.
Memon moved the HC for stay against the demolition which was refused. Following this the BMC started demolition in April, 2008. The BMC punctured the walls of the C wing and called for a tender to carry out further demolition without harming the legal portions of the building.
Sawant and seven other residents of B wing filed a writ peitition in the HC against unauthorised construction of C wing, open space violations and the absence of a proper entrance to their wing. The residents found that the passage which they were using as entrance was closed by Ms Jaykar who said the area was meant to be a shop purchased by her daughter Poonam.
With the access to their homes blocked, the petitioners sought the court’s intervention. The HC appointed a court commissioner Chirag Shah to visit the site and report to it. The residents also complained to the police. Following pressure from the police officials, the grille was removed and the residents got access to their building.
The BMC claimed that the builder had balance FSI against which the seventh floor of B wing, first floor of C wing and two shops could be regularised provided he demolished the remaining illegal portions within 30 days. “But the illegal structure is still in in tact,’’ Sawant complained. Memon was unavailable for comment. Sawant alleged that most buildings in Tilak Nagar, which was a housing board colony, had several illegal floors, but the BMC was not demolishing them.M/West ward Ramesh Pawar said he was readying to completely demolish the illegal wing.
