Court hearing delays eviction of Kailash Prabhat residents by a day

Our legal department had told us to wait for a day. We cannot take action after 6pm and hence will wait till tomorrow for disconnection

Mumbai: As a last-ditch effort to save themselves from getting evicted, the residents of Kailash Prabhat CHS in BKC-Kurla junction moved the Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday against BMC’s eviction notice, but to no avail. The petitioners returned dejected as the court dismissed their plea which requested an alternate accommodation and two years’ rent by the builder for the residents.

Mumbai, India - June 11, 2024: 500 residents in Kailash Parbat CHS adjacent to BKC junction to be rendered homeless, as BMC will come armed with police protection on June 19 to evict them after court ordered demolition of the C1 category building in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The civic body had recently stated that water supply and electricity connection of Kailash Prabhat CHS, declared C1 (dangerous and dilapidated), would be disconnected on June 19.

However, due to the court hearing, the BMC pushed the date by a day to June 20 to take action.

When Swapnaja Kshirsagar, assistant commissioner from H East ward was contacted, she said, “One of the residents moved the high court and their matter was dismissed. Our legal department had told us to wait for a day. We cannot take action after 6pm and hence will wait till tomorrow for disconnection. Depending on police protection we have plans to disconnect electricity and water supply on June 20.”

When asked about how the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) report by IIT-B contradicted VJTI’s report declaring it C1 (dangerous and dilapidated) instead of C2b (requires major structural repairs) she said, “It was declared as C2b by VJTI in 2020 and they were given three months to repair the building. But the TAC report was considered by the high court and it has the final say.”

HT is in possession of the structural audit report of April 2023 by VJTI by Abhay Bambole submitted to MMRDA for the proposed Santacruz Chembur Link Road (SCLR) project which had declared Kailash Prabhat CHS under C(2b) category as “repairable” and “liveable.” HT is also in possession of four other reports from structural consultants declaring it under the C2b category in the same year.

Vishwas Mote, deputy municipal commissioner when contacted said, “It is declared under the C1 category by TAC and we need to follow the procedure at the earliest. The court order has to be followed.”

The BMC’s action of disconnecting the electricity and water supply on Thursday will impact close to 500 residents.

The plot is a real estate goldmine adjacent to the BKC-Kurla junction and builder sharks are known to eye this prime property measuring 66,000 sq ft.

Originally, there were 132 families in Kailash Prabhat society and a few including the society chairman and secretary have vacated. With no assurance from the builder after the building is razed to ground zero, residents have no place to go if evicted by the BMC on June 20.

HT has been consistently reporting since June 11 and also about how five structural audit reports, including the one by VJTI, had classified the buildings under the C2b (liveable and repairable) category. However, the Supreme Court dismissed their petition on June 7 as it went with the TAC report which had already sealed residents’ fates declaring that Kailash Prabhat came under the C1 category (dangerous) and needed to be demolished.