Builder Hicons Developers is in the dock for constructing four floors allegedly without the permission of the civil aviation department as well as the building proposal department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). H-West ward officials have issued notices to the residents of the illegal floors, who are yet to vacate the building at Khar (West). Civic officials started the demolition process on July 15, puncturing the walls and ceilings. H-West ward officials alleged that the builder constructed the four floors without the approval of the civil aviation department due to which it failed to procure the commencement certificate from the building proposal department for construction of the 16-storey building named Hicons Classic in Khar (West). The officials said there was one flat each on the four illegal floors. Three are occupied by tenants. The fourth is occupied by one of the managing directors of Hicons Developers. An official from the H-West ward office said the issue was pointed out by the building proposal department in a notice on September 7, 2015, in which the latter asked ward officials to probe the matter and take action accordingly. “On October 1, 2015, we issued a notice to the builder, pointing out the irregularities after which they approached the sessions court in Dindoshi. They, however, lost the case and, following court orders, the executive engineer of the building proposal department reported that the building did not have permission to construct beyond 12 floors. We thus issued a notice to the residents of flats on the 13th till the 16th floors on July 14,” he said. Civic officials said residents were yet to move out of the flats on the illegal floors. Sharad Ughade, assistant municipal commissioner, H-West ward, said on humanitarian grounds, the BMC had issued them notices to give them time to shift their belongings. “If they refuse to vacate, we will remove them with police help. In the meantime, we will continue the demolition process of puncturing the walls and ceiling to render the place uninhabitable,” said Ughade. Civic officials are in the process of appointing a contractor to complete the demolition. Since July 15, ward officials have punctured passage walls of the illegal floors as well as ceiling walls. “Due to heavy rain, we have started with the demolition of internal walls as electric machinery won’t work in the rain. There were irregularities on the lower floors as well, including sealed ducts, that too were demolished,” said the official. Despite several attempts, none of the managing directors of Hicons Developers could be reached for a comment. The case is similar to that of the Campa Cola compound in Worli, where builders had constructed 35 additional floors in the seven buildings when they had permission for only six floors.
