15-storey building near BPCL plant may be security threat, says Bombay HC

BPCL had approached HC complaining that the 15-storey building would be a threat to the refinery, as its higher floors would give people an “unobstructed view” of the refinery.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday refused to allow construction of a 15-storey building just 30 metres from the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) refinery compound at Mahul, as “the building may pose a security threat to the establishment and be hazardous to the health of residents”.

The bench struck down a May 2017 order of the municipal commissioner which had allowed Kishraj Developers to go ahead with the construction. (Representational Image)

“When such incidents are happening in a neighbouring country [referring to the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka] and alerts are being sounded in the country, additional measures must be taken to safeguard vital installations of national importance,” said the bench of justice SC Dharmadhikari and justice BP Colabawalla.

The bench added that just because no major terrorist attack had taken place in Mumbai after November 26, 2008, it did not mean such an attack would not happen in the future.

BPCL had approached HC complaining that the 15-storey building would be a threat to the refinery, as its higher floors would give people an “unobstructed view” of the refinery. It had also said the high-rise would expose the refinery to threats of possible terror strikes. The bench struck down a May 2017 order of the municipal commissioner which had allowed Kishraj Developers to go ahead with the construction and said “construction of high-rises cannot be allowed in the vicinity of such installations, as world over, such establishments were being targeted by terrorist organisations”.

It also added that residing near such “inherently hazardous” places would put the residents’ health at risk, and stressed on the need for a permanent solution to protect these establishments. BPCL argued in court that the nature of the activity within its premises itself was hazardous, as it refines and stores highly inflammable petroleum products in large quantities. It had said the possibility of accidents or calamities could not be ruled out even with all precautionary measures in place. Hence, constructions could not be allowed in its close vicinity. The bench, while striking down the May 2017 order, said the municipal commissioner had ignored these concerns and apprehensions of grave threat to the safety of the oil refinery.

The developer argued that he was being singled out, as there are already 72 eight-storey buildings in the vicinity which were constructed under a slum rehabilitation scheme. He said there was also the Mahul gaothan, and the Eastern Freeway passes very close to the refinery which gives a clear view of the entire refinery.

However, the bench struck down the developer’s arguments and said the construction of the 15-storey building could not be allowed just because there were already buildings in the vicinity.

It said “in case of accidents or natural disasters, ample vacant space was required around such hazardous units to allow the process of evacuation. A comprehensive measure is required to put in place a permanent mechanism.” It expressed hope that the planning authority, state and Centre would collectively come up with such a safety measures.