BMC blind to encroachments

Residents of the Pandey Dube Chawl have filed several complaints with the K east ward office seeking demolition of the wall, but the ward office has not responded. Navin Patel, a resident of the chawl said, “We have complained to municipal commissioner Girish Gokhale and his subordinates on several occasions and also made representations to the state government, but our grievances have fallen on deaf ears.”

K east ward officer K S Mehta dismissed these allegations and said the matter was blown out of proportion due to a property dispute. "The residents of two adjoining properties have some mutual dispute. Those who have approached the press with their grievances have themselves constructed a compound wall without proper demarcation by the building proposals department,” Mehta told Express Newsline.

He added that the buildings proposals department had issued a stop work notice in this regard but the matter has not been resolved. Patel, however, said the residents had confirmed that the road was not constructed under the development plan regulations. Under the circumstances, Patel explained, it was not necessary for the ward officer to refer the matter to the building proposals department for any corrective action.

Blaming ward officer K S Mehta for not issuing orders for the demolition of the unauthorised compound wall, Patel said he was, in fact, delaying it. “Instead of taking any measures, he passed on the buck to the buildings proposals department to ascertain if any permission was granted to construct the compound wall,” Patel said.

“The road’s width has been reduced to merely eight feet, making it impossible for heavy vehicles to pass through. In case of a fire or any other mishap, on either side of the road, there isn’t enough space for fire engines or other heavy vehicles to enter,” Patel said.