Engineer alleges illegal construction by developers on a plot at Mahim A Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme,which is in progress on a 5,500-sq-metre plot at Mahim,has come under the scanner after an SRA sub-engineer lodged a complaint under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act at Mahim police station. He has accused the developers of illegal construction. While the Mahim police are yet to make any arrests,the accused in the case,Gharandaj Builders,will move an application in the court to seek regularisation of the structure. According to the complainant Mohammed Sheikh,sub-engineer,SRA,Gharandaj Builders and KR Rege and Associates have constructed four additional floors on a sale building without relevant commencement certificate. On September 26,2008,we filed an application at the Mahim police station and on November 9,2009, we sent a showcause notice to the builders seeking a clarification regarding the construction asking them to demolish the portion that was not authorised. However,when there was no response from the other side,we were forced to register a complaint, said Sheikh in his statement. Incidentally,the plot was to have a fire station and a BEST station,besides buildings to rehabilitate the slumdwellers. However,there are only three buildings,two of them have been slotted for rehabilitation component and one of them is for the sale for the builders profit. The scheme was approved in 1997,but even after a decade there is no fire station and the BEST receiving station. Around 39 buildings are yet to come up in addition to two Balwadis,two welfare centres and a society. Three buildings have already come up; two of them are for rehabilitation. However,one of the rehab buildings has been built on an adjacent plot that was not meant for SRA activity, said Mehul Vyas,a member of a district planning committee who had filed a PIL on the issue. However,Ashish Kulkarni of Gharandaj Builders refuted all the allegations saying that the delay in the development was because four residents were creating problems in vacating the plot. In response to the FIR,we will file a petition for regularisation of the structure. If the plot is completely vacated,then within a year we can construct the BEST receiving station and a fire station, said Kulkarni who stated that the adjacent plot was meant for SRA development and the confusion was due to errors on the paper.
