Demolition drive in Mumbai is farcical: Vikhe Patil

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil today said the ongoing drive against unauthorised constructions in Mumbai was a farce.
In the wake of yesterday's deadly fire at a pub in central Mumbai that claimed 14 lives, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) today razed illegal and unauthorised structures at 314 sites.
In a statement, Vikhe Patil alleged that owners of hotels where illegal construction was carried out are close friends of the young scion of a prominent political family in the city.
To save these friends, civic officials were suspended and a farcical action against illegal constructions is underway, he alleged.

The civic authorities knew of violation of rules by the two pubs where fire raged early yesterday morning, but no action was taken because owners are linked to powerful leaders of the ruling dispensation, the Congress leader said.