Huts on Girgaum Chowpatty to be cleared after Ganpati

City collector Chandrashekhar Oak on Thursday ordered a survey of Girgaum Chowpatty to determine whether there are new encroachments on the beach and said the slums would be cleared after the Ganesh festival.

City collector Chandrashekhar Oak on Thursday ordered a survey of Girgaum Chowpatty to determine whether there are new encroachments on the beach and said the slums would be cleared after the Ganesh festival.

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The beach area is under the city collectorate’s jurisdiction.

Oak said he plans to write to the two planning authorities in the city asking them to plant trees so as to prevent slums from cropping up once they are demolished.

“Following the demolition of these hutments after Ganpati festival, I plan to write to the MMRDA and the BMC to undertake tree-planting drives along the stretch of the beach that is most vulnerable to encroachments,” he said.

The beach was first cleaned up in 1996-7.

The last survey showed there were 35 hutments on the beach, after which a demolition drive was conducted in July, but they seem to have sprung up again due to lack of vigil, Oak said.

BMC officials said they had planned a demolition drive in September but that it had to be cancelled as they did not have police protection.

“These huts have been around for less than a year. We will demolish them this month,” said a civic official, requesting anonymity.