The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the civic chief to decide within four months whether five multi-storey buildings, allegedly constructed either without permission or under the garb of repairs, in Dongri, are legal or not.
A bench of chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Bharati Dangre — while hearing a public interest litigation filed by local Congress leader Ayub Umar Memon, against the unauthorised constructions in Mandvi, Dongri — also asked the civic chief to demolish the buildings if they were constructed without necessary permissions. The judges said the civic chief should issue notices to the owners of the buildings, and hear them, before making a decision.
According to Memon, two of the five buildings were originally ground-plus-three storey structures and have been replaced by nine-and- eleven-storey towers without permissions. Two three-storey structures and one four-storey building have been replaced by ground-plus-nine-storey structures, which are also allegedly unauthorised, the petition stated. Memon’s lawyer, Sujeet Kurup, said the buildings are located in Mandvi where an unauthorised four-storey building collapsed on July 16, killing 11 people.
Kurup said the old buildings came under the purview of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada). He said the no-objection certificate (NOC) of the housing authority was required for the redevelopment of these old buildings and the new building plans were required to be approved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). However, no such permissions were obtained for three of the buildings, Kurup said. The other two buildings, he said, were reconstructed under the garb of repairs, permission for which was obtained from Mhada.
{{/usCountry}}Kurup said the old buildings came under the purview of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada). He said the no-objection certificate (NOC) of the housing authority was required for the redevelopment of these old buildings and the new building plans were required to be approved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). However, no such permissions were obtained for three of the buildings, Kurup said. The other two buildings, he said, were reconstructed under the garb of repairs, permission for which was obtained from Mhada.
{{/usCountry}}BMC’s advocate Ajit Kenjale said the civic body had already initiated action to demolish one of the five buildings, and no inquiry, as ordered by the court, was required to be undertaken in that case.
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