Two builders who are respondents in a PIL seeking World Heritage Site status for Andheris Gilbert Hill,have filed affidavits in the Bombay High Court contending that the hill is not a geological or an archeological monument. The affidavits filed on behalf of Kordon Builders Private Limited (KBPL) and Harsh Constructions,state that the Shree Goandevi Durga Devasthan Trust (SGDDT),which has filed the petition along with activist Shail Rane and Shiv Sena corporator Yellapa Kushalkar,cannot point a finger at them since it had illegally constructed structures and a concrete staircase atop the hill which has caused serious damage to the monolith. Rane,in his PIL filed through Jamshed Mistry and Dipesh Siroya,had urged the court to restrain construction activity around the hill. The basalt rock of the hill,a designated National Geological Monument,has peculiar columnar jointing. Columnar basalt is no longer being formed anywhere on earth, the PIL states. The affidavit filed by S Mohammed Maredia,director of KBPL,said as per the affidavits filed by BMC,SRA,the Archeological Survey of India and the Geological Survey of India in a separate PIL filed in court on 2005,it can be concluded that Gilbert Hill is not a protected monument of international importance and does not come under the purview of the ASI. The affidavit adds,As per the Geological Department,Gilbert Hill is not declared as a geological monument. The hill was granted the Heritage Grade IIA status in 2007 by the Maharashtra government,the affidavit also mentions. Both builders said they have sought necessary permissions from authorities like the BMC and Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). They have alleged that the petitioners have filed the PIL with a malafide intent of extorting money from the builders by stalling their projects under the garb of a PIL. Jiten Ajmera,partner in Harsh Constructions,said in his affidavit that they have taken all precautions to ensure that the activity does not endanger the safety of the columnar structure of Gilbert Hill. While Ajmera has stated that the SGDDT had constructed toilets,rooms and extension of a temple on top of Gilbert Hill itself, Maredias affidavit states that the petitioners have caused maximum damage to the hill by carrying out construction activities right on top of the hill and also along the rock face by carving out a staircase and inserting poles by drilling holes into the walls of the hill thereby permitting water seepage into the same. Respondents including the corporation,the ASI,the Geology and Mining department and the Heritage Conservation Committee,however,have not filed their affidavits in reply to the PIL yet.
