E-Paper
Supreme Court stays demolition of 29 bungalows in PCMC
Supreme Court has put temporary stay in the National Green Tribunal’s order to raze 29 bungalows said to be violating the environmental norms
Pune: The Supreme Court (SC) has put a temporary stay in the National Green Tribunal’s order to raze 29 bungalows said to be violating the environmental norms. A Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) official said that the apex court has asked the residents as well as the municipal corporation to submit their response on February 10, and action will be taken as per the court’s order.
In July this year, issuing a benchmark judgment, the NGT Western Zonal Bench ordered PCMC to demolish 29 bungalows constructed in the blueline area of the Indrayani River within six months. The court also levied a collective penalty of ₹5 crore on the bungalow owners as cost of environmental damage (EDC). The case was registered in NGT in 2020. Based on response submitted by all the authorities concerned, the tribunal issued the order of demolition. Later, the bungalow owners approached the Supreme Court.
In the recent hearing, the SC put a stay on demolition action after hearing from the applicants’ side.
The court directed the appellants to file a fresh synopsis and directed no demolition action against the structure on the basis of the order issued by the NGT.
“We had planned demolition action on December 21 and December 22. However, in the hearing held on December 20, the court put a stay on demolition order issued by NGT till February 10, and asked us to submit a response,” said Makrand Nikam, city engineer, PCMC.
