MUMBAI: A neighbourhood covered in dust, demolition debris crashing onto the pavement, and citizens who waged a battle against an errant developer -- and emerged triumphant. Residents of the Apna Ghar locality in Andheri (west) felt vindicated when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a stop-work notice to DGS Land Developer (India) Pvt Ltd for multiple violations of air pollution mitigation guidelines during the demolition of the ten-storey Kamdhenu Society in Oshiwara on Monday.
The notice, issued by the BMC’s K-West ward, directs the developer to stop work immediately. Citing the state government’s air pollution mitigation guidelines, the notice lists eight violations. It states that the site lacked a functional dust-extraction system with appropriate air pollution control technology, and that the demolition as well as concreting work was being carried out without adequately covering the site.
The site also lacked proper storage of loose soil, construction material and debris as it had not covered or enclosed them, while material had also been dumped on the road and footpath. The developer had also failed to provide a vehicle tyre-washing facility, the notice states. The ward office has also directed the local police to remove all persons involved in carrying out the work from the site.
The civic action follows complaints from a determined group of citizens, the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens’ Association (LOCA), who had been documenting the alleged violations through videos and posted them on social media. They backed this up with written complaints to the BMC for eight to ten days.
{{/usCountry}}The civic action follows complaints from a determined group of citizens, the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens’ Association (LOCA), who had been documenting the alleged violations through videos and posted them on social media. They backed this up with written complaints to the BMC for eight to ten days.
{{/usCountry}}Karan Jotwani, co-founder of Andheri LOCA, said that inadequate dust-control measures had left the neighbourhood covered in a thick layer of dust, exposing the residents of several buildings to health hazards.
“The haze caused by the dust was so bad that nothing was visible. With the city’s air quality dipping, the builder’s actions made air quality in the neighbourhood plummet,” he said.
Dhaval Shah, co-founder of Andheri LOCA, said, “The builder was so reckless that, today, some of the debris fell onto the road and footpath. Thankfully, no one was injured,“ he said
HT reached out to Rohit Shukla , chief marketing officer, DGS Land Developer (India) Pvt Ltd via email, but didn’t receive a response.
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