BMC razes 4 illegal floors in Dongri building
There were around 100 residents living in Economic House and, according to a civic official, most of them have vacated
Mumbai: Four unauthorised storeys of the 16-storey Economic House in Chinchbunder, Dongri, were razed by the civic authorities in the last two months, with the remaining eight illegal storeys scheduled for demolition after Navratri. The action follows a protracted battle between the building’s occupants and ‘B’ ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which maintains that 12 illegal storeys were constructed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Each storey comprises seven one-room/kitchen flats with commercial units operating on the ground floor.
There were around 100 residents living in Economic House and, according to a civic official, most of them have vacated. “Those who haven’t left will be forcibly evicted,” he said. An eviction notice was served on July 26 in compliance with a Bombay High Court order of October 2023.
The civic official added, “We have internally demolished four floors, from the 16th to the 12th storey. The residents took advantage during the Covid period and constructed the illegal floors. We have carried out multiple demolitions and they even moved the high court. But the court slapped a fine of ₹10 lakh for the unauthorised portions.”
The BMC and the occupants of Economic House have been locked in battle since 2019. “We had posted posters outside the building to not rent or buy rooms in the building as the floors were illegally built. No registration has been maintained of tenants who had occupied illegal floors to date. There were multiple cases filed and stay orders were lifted multiple times, and finally by the high court in October 2023,” said the civic official.
The high court had dismissed an appeal against an order passed by the City Civil Court, which had refused to grant a temporary injunction against the BMC for taking action against the unauthorised construction.
The petitioner, a resident of the building, had challenged a notice issued by the BMC under Section 354A of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, on July 20, 2019. The BMC notice had flagged the unauthorised erection of reinforced cement concrete (RCC) columns above the fourth floor. Despite repeated attempts by ‘B’ ward to demolish these and other structures, a total of 12 storeys had been built. They were constructed while the petitioner benefitted from interim orders issued by lower courts, temporarily halting demolition.
The petitioner argued that the fifth storey of the building had existed since 1961 and denied any new construction beyond repairs. However, the BMC’s inspection, supported by photographic evidence, revealed ongoing unauthorised construction. The high court found the petitioner’s defence of “tenantable repairs” misleading and dishonest, with no valid permission for the additional storeys.
The high court rejected the petitioner’s request for relief and directed the immediate demolition of the unauthorised portions of the building. Additionally, it imposed exemplary costs of ₹10 lakh on the plaintiff, towards demolition expenses. The court had also refused the petitioner’s request to extend interim relief, calling the actions a clear misuse of the legal process.
A senior civic official said that since the Dongri police would be unable to assign personnel for protection to a demolition crew during the Navratri festival, ‘B’ ward would carry out further demolitions after Navratri.