Over the past three years, the Bombay High Court has issued a series of directives against rampant illegal and unchecked constructions in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), holding civic bodies and their top officials, including commissioners serving as administrators, accountable for the mushrooming of thousands of such structures and seeking immediate action.
The high court passed orders mandating demolitions, suspending responsible officers, recovering costs from errants, and ensuring strict implementation of the guidelines.
While elections for 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra will be held on January 15, 2026, several civic bodies completed their terms in 2022, leading to prolonged administrative rule of 3 to 4 years in several cities in MMR and the rest of the state.
‘Something fundamentally goes wrong’
In June this year, the HC observed that a large number of uncontrolled illegal structures would not have come up in the municipal areas of MMR if civic bodies had strictly implemented a 2009 Government Resolution (GR) that laid down detailed guidelines for dealing with such structures.
In March 2009, the Maharashtra Urban Development Department (UDD) laid down stringent terms and conditions for action against illegal and unauthorised constructions across the state.
In October, a bench headed by Justice Girish S Kulkarni observed a surge in matters related to illegal constructions being filed in courts due to a lack of timely action against them. The HC observed that “something fundamentally goes wrong” despite several court orders.
The court pulled up the Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) for “lawlessness” and questioned why effective steps were not taken to approach the civil courts to vacate the status quo against certain illegal structures in the area. The court said, “The municipal corporation was still in a state of deep slumber”.
Story continues below this ad
On June 13 this year, the Bombay High Court also ordered the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) commissioner to conduct a survey of all illegal structures across its wards, including developing areas and green zones, and act against them “before it is too late.”
In March this year, the high court directed the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to conduct a detailed survey of its area within four months to find how many illegal or irregular constructions or structures are raised within its jurisdiction, and take action against such structures after hearing the owners or occupiers.
‘A chaotic state of affairs’
In July last year, the high court said that civic authorities should stop encouraging “private mafia” to carry out illegal construction, causing suffering to poor people, and directed the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) to take action against 41 unauthorised buildings in its area.
In August 2021, the HC observed that occupants of illegal structures cannot be at an advantage at the cost of the entire society, and that building collapses are “causing agony” amongst citizens and had directed VVMC commissioner, who was acting as the administrator, to initiate action against over 9,000 illegal and unauthorised structures existing under its purview.
Story continues below this ad
In March last year, the high court directed the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to promptly take action against the occupants and owners of 4,570 structures within its area that were identified as unlawful and illegal.
In November last year, the court directed KDMC to demolish 65 illegal buildings in the region within three months. Last month, a contempt plea was filed in the Bombay High Court against KDMC for failing to comply with and wilfully disobeying the demolition order.
In February 2022, a bench led by then Chief Justice Dipankar Datta passed a bunch of directions in a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) over the building collapse in Thane’s Bhiwandi, in which at least 40 people died, and the menace of “rampant” illegal constructions.
The Bombay High Court asked planning authorities and municipal corporation commissioners to inform the state UDD about unauthorised constructions, review such buildings in every ward in the last week of every month, and take criminal action against errant officials.
Story continues below this ad
The court added that the corruption in civic bodies should be brought to book through anti-graft mechanisms.
“We may note that a chaotic state of affairs of mushrooming of slums and unauthorised and illegal constructions in every possible pocket of open land could have been avoided, provided there was a desire to have a proper vision and an effort to make an effective plan for mass public housing, which would cater to the housing needs,” the court noted.
