Speed up hearing on pleas of owners of illegal homes in Alibaug, orders HC

The Bombay high court has directed the Alibaug civil court to expedite the hearing on the 111 applications filed by the owners of unauthorised bungalows along coast

The Bombay high court has directed the Alibaug civil court to expedite the hearing on the 111 applications filed by the owners of unauthorised bungalows along coast which are slated to be demolished.

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The division bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and R I Chagla also directed the collector of Raigad district to seek help from the Public Works Department (PWD) to access machinery to carry out the demolition of five structures.

The collector informed court that out of the 159 unauthorised structures, 22 had been demolished, while demolition of other five structures was held up due to lack of machinery.

The collector also informed the court through an affidavit that the owners of 111 structures had got a stay against the demolition from the civil court and hence the same could not be demolished.

He further assured the HC that all efforts were being taken to carry out its order to remove structures that had come up in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone’s (CRZ) norms; however the efforts were hampered due to litigation.

In the hearing last week the bench had asked the collector to be present in court after it was informed by the petitioner that little or no action had been initiated to comply with the demolition order of the HC.

The bench directed the lower court to expedite the hearing of the cases and also directed the government pleader to file appeals against the stay. The court also directed the PWD department to provide the requisite machinery to carry out the demolition of the five structures. The bench further directed the collector to ensure that no new structures came up in the area henceforth and posted the matter for compliance on December 13.