12 under-construction illegal buildings razed in Kurla- Sakinaka in nine days

The L ward is no stranger to illegal constructions, and these structures came up on open plots of land in Sethia Nagar, Wadia Estate, Khairani Road and Sakinaka, especially in ward number 164. These are the four locations where the maximum number of unauthorised buildings have mushroomed this month

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) comes down hard on unauthorised construction in its L ward area which covers parts of Kurla and Sakinaka. In the last nine days, the civic body razed 12 under-construction illegal buildings constructed by unscrupulous builders and unregistered contractors.

12 under-construction illegal buildings razed in Kurla- Sakinaka in nine days

The L ward is no stranger to illegal constructions, and these structures came up on open plots of land in Sethia Nagar, Wadia Estate, Khairani Road and Sakinaka, especially in ward number 164. These are the four locations where the maximum number of unauthorised buildings have mushroomed this month.

“In one case, a contractor was developing four structures illegally. We served him one notice to demolish them,” said Nitin Kamble, designated officer, L ward, tasked with demolishing unauthorised constructions with support from deputy municipal commissioner Harshad Kale.

Last Saturday, the column work for these under-construction buildings were completed. When the contractor was in the process of building big masonry work, Kamble learnt of it. “We issued MRTP 354(A) notice, speaking order and after taking police protection we have demolished them,” he said.

Incidentally, there are no vacant spaces in the island city, but in L ward, there are open plots of vacant land and since the ward is still under development it is vulnerable for encroachers to construct illegal buildings. It takes three weeks to complete constructing a three-storey building. These types of illegal buildings were constructed by small-time contractors and were once known as “holiday constructions” as they were generally erected during extended weekends.

“The contractors claim to be civil contractors but they are not registered contractors. They are fly-by-night operators where they make mistakes in constructions and we demolished them with JCB and police protection and bent all the columns to make the structures inhabitable,” said Kamble.

Sometimes the contractors use iron angle channels and siporex blocks, which are lighter but bigger than red bricks. Using these, it is easy to construct a building in no time. Kamble said if an authorised flat in these localities are available for ₹35 lakh, an unauthorised flat can cost ₹12 lakh, making it affordable for the buyers.

“Homebuyers only look at the cost aspect and affordable housing and purchase the flats. They don’t look at the poor quality of construction, authenticity and permissions. Very few people verify documents. There is a demand for such unauthorised buildings with masonry constructions which are dangerous as they are not built for stability. Those who construct such buildings do so just so that they can enclose the area and take over the plot illegally. Khairani Road in Saki Naka is under development and has been on the radar of such contractors,” added Kamble.

The modus-operandi of such contractors is that they grab open land/plot and set up a shed and then carry out unauthorised construction.

“So, firstly we have started actions on open lands/plots so that further construction can be stopped. On completed structures they construct a shed and cover it by providing tin sheets, so we have adopted a policy of demolishing the same. Then they start construction activities by providing brick masonry, with sheets on existing structures from ground to upper floors, where we have also started actions on the same,” said Kamble.