100 illegal shrines to be demolished in Mumbai

More than 100 illegal shrines in the city have come under the scanner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Council.

More than 100 illegal shrines in the city have come under the scanner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Council, which has begun demolishing these structures after a complaint from an NGO.

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"We have begun demolishing these structures from Wednesday. Some of them have been demolished earlier in accordance with a High Court order but they sprung up again. Also some had not been demolished in the first place. We expect to finish these demolitions before the end of this week," Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vijay Kadam said.

On a complaint by the NGO Janhit Manch, which alleged that more than 600 illegal shrines had come up in violation of rules, the civic body carried out a survey that revealed about 100 shrines had been illegally built, BMC officials said.

Kadam said he did not expect any trouble during the demolitions, as the shrines were makeshift structures built on roadsides. "The municipal commissioner has given strict orders that the demolitions should be completed within a week. Accordingly we started work on Wednesday."

In 2003, the civic body had undertaken a massive drive to demolish several illegal shrines here following a directive from the Bombay High Court.

Within three years, however, the illegal shrines resurfaced in the city, officials said.