Illegal approach

Mohan Krishnan, a resident of Malad and president of the National Anti-corruption and Crime Preventive Council, Maharashtra, lists some o...

Mohan Krishnan, a resident of Malad and president of the National Anti-corruption and Crime Preventive Council, Maharashtra, lists some of the blatant examples of unauthorised construction in the area: There is a factory at Rathodi village which falls within the green belt zone of Malad. It manufactures rubber and plastic products. The process not only pollutes the atmosphere, the factory itself is an unauthorised structure of around 1,000 square feet.

Others include the Jain temple at M P Jain Compound Raheja township behind Parekh apartment, Sai Baba temple at Dhanjiwadi, Rani Sati Marg and Hanuman temple on the Western Express Highway adjacent to the office of a former corporator, Usha Shah. Next to the temple is a beer bar. Extension of commercial premises at Haji Bapu Road, opposite M W Desai Municipal Hospital, have also been brought to the notice of the Municipal Commissioner. After a BMC demolition notice, owners went to court and obtained a stay order, followed by further extensions when actuallyboth the parties should have maintained status quo. Factories of 50 galas in the neighbourhood of residential premises at Bliss Compound, Nivetia Road, is another example of illegal construction.

Krishnan observes that the trend is part of large scale usurping of land meant for educational and recreational purposes by slumlords with political connections for instance, illegal constructions at Nav-jala pada on H B Road in Malad E. Similarly, plots meant for educational institutions at Gokuldham, Malad-Goregaon, have been encroached upon.

Dr Ram Barot, Deputy Mayor and a Malad resident for nearly two decades now, agrees that there are large number of unauthorised structures in the suburb. This he says doesn8217;t happen without the consent of municipal officials or corporators. quot;But now we have decided to take action by demolishing these structures. Municipal Commissioner and Mayor have already decided for two BMC demolition squads.quot;

The president of Malad Deep Co-Operative Housing Society, K V Kamath,seems far from convinced. quot;From the beginning of this year, we have been reading a lot about the BMC8217;s demolition drive8217;, though without much interest because we know that it is just a gimmick,quot; he maintains in his letter.

Kamath furnished a case that, he feels, speaks volumes about the nexus between the authorities and the people indulging in illegal constructions. His housing society sent written complaints against unauthorised structures shops, godowns and a hotel kitchen to the Ward Officer. It8217;s been nine months since then but no action has been taken yet. No wonder, Kamath finds BMC insertions in newspapers exhorting citizens to route their grievances on illegal constructions and encroachments a sham. Why cannot the civic body further amend Section 354 a of the BMC Act to make it more effective so that the reported unauthorised structures can be demolished immediately if they are found to be illegal without issuing any notice, he asks. The Ward Officer, however, refuses to comment on thenine-month delay as he has joined recently. However, the case has been taken up and the concerned people of the unauthorised structures has been issued show-cause notice, he claims.