Christian groups held a meeting at a church in Irla on Friday, soon after the civic body released a list of 534 illegal religious structures, to discuss steps to ensure that the crosses on the list are not demolished.
The civic body has said it will wait for "at least a month" for documents concerning these structures to be submitted so that they can be regularised.
Religious groups reacted strongly to the threat of demolition. "We had submitted the necessary documents for the crosses, but were told that they were misplaced," said Gordon Jacobs, president of Association of Concerned Catholics. "Some crosses listed are centuries old and we will make all efforts to ensure they are not demolished."
The Bombay Catholic Sabha has asked its units to prove the heritage status of crosses on the list."We will look at whether the temples listed cause any trouble," said Shivaji Wadkar, coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.
ND Pathan, who heads the state's Wakf board which controls Muslim religious structures, said the board's permission would be required for the BMC to demolish old structures. "We will check on the matter," he said.