BMC–SRA tussle over Worli STP land deepens as agency hands back plot, orders demolition of transit camps

Deeming the approval by SRA for the transit camp ‘illegal’, additional municipal commissioner, Ashwini Joshi on Thursday directed chief engineer (sewerage operations) to lodge a criminal complaint against the EE (G/South), D B Patil for illegal permissions granted to the transit camp. Meanwhile, in a notice issued by the assistant municipal commissioner of G/South ward, the BMC also directed the SRA to stop all construction activity on the site.

In response to the notice, the SRA on Friday handed over the contested plot, sprawling over 17,756 square metres, to the BMC appealing them to take over the possession of the STP reservation plot. Further, the SRA also revoked permissions from the developers carrying out transit camp works for failing to obtain NOC from MOEF as well as for not submitting NOC to the land-owning authority, BMC. The SRA has directed the developers to immediately demolish the unauthorised transit tenement building constructed on the civic land.

For its part, the SRA maintains that the agency had previously filed an FIR against the developer as well as issued notice under Section 53(1) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1996 in August 2025. “While we had previously granted them approvals for transit camp on the plot, we had revoked those permissions as well as issued stop work notice to the transit camp building No. 1 to 7 as they had failed to procure permissions from the MOEF department as per the GOM notification. We had also lodged an FIR against the implementing agency in the local police station under the MRTP act,” said D B Patil, SRA executive engineer of G/South ward.

Amid the notices, SRA conducted a site visit at the Worli land parcel where it observed construction activity by the BMC bridge department.

“We conducted a site visit on Friday and noted that besides the transit camps which we have called to be demolished, no construction activity is underway on the plot by SRA. We observed that at present it is the BMC’s bridge department who is in fact carrying out work on the plot reserved for the STP plant. We observed machinery of the BMC’s bridge contractor present at site who is working on the elevated bridge connecting E Moses Road with the Anne Besant Road,” an SRA official told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena corporator and group leader Amey Ghole on Friday wrote to the Chief Secretary seeking cancellation of deputation and independent inquiry against the SRA engineer for ‘alleged misuse of official position, contradictory actions and serious procedural irregularities’.