BMC demolishes building in suburb

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) today demolished a seven-storey building at suburban Tilak Nagar. "The BMC's building proposal department had declared the building as unauthorised as it was built on MHADA land. We had sent them a notice in January last year and gave enough time to act, but the builder did not demolish it so we carried out the task," Deputy Municipal Commissioner Suhas Karvande said.

The 'C' wing of Bharat Tilak Nagar Co-op Housing Society Building number 29, constructed by Paradise and Bhoomi Developers, was found to be illegal when some residents complained to BMC for lack of proper open space and access in January last year. The 'D' wing of the building also had two shops built illegally. "In January 2008 we complained to the BMC's building proposal department under Right to Information Act 2005 for lack of proper open spaces and proper access to the wing of the building. At that time we were shocked to learn that the wing and the shop attached to it were illegal and unauthorised," said Sophia Sawant, a resident of the B wing.

"More shocking was the revelation that the part of the building was constructed on a piece of land, an NDR plot adjacent to the society's plot, said Assistant Municipal Commissioner (M West ward) Ramesh Pawar.

After learning about it, the civic officials issued a notice under the MRTP Act to demolish the illegal structure. "We have also lodged a complaint against the builder under MRTP as he is the main culprit and was aware about the illegal activity. We punctured the walls of the buildings in April last year," Pawar said.

An FIR was lodged against the chairman and secretary of the society and the builder Javed Menon. All of them were arrested and later released on bail. "The development has created awareness amongst the flat owners in the area who have now become more vigilant and alert when buying new property or allowing redevelopment of their old buildings," said another resident.

"The A wing of the building houses the original MHADA tenants and the B and C wing has sale component people," Pawar said.