PCB razes 30 illegal cabins

PUNE, Aug 22: The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) today demolished as many as 30 illegal cabins located on the sixth floor of building number...

PUNE, Aug 22: The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) today demolished as many as 30 illegal cabins located on the sixth floor of building number 16, M G Road which also houses the popular showroom Espanya.

The cabins on the sixth floor of the building were let out to commercial establishments by owner Kisanchand T Athwani in 1991. The cabins which have been demolished include the Marketing Division of Gopic Mixer Houses, Matrix Paging Services, Companion Groups rented by a Bobby Chavan, All Take India office, Vibhuja Steels, Sanjay Securities, Space Publications, Selvia Companions – Baths and Toilets, Samrat Shipping, Jeevan Saathi Marriage Bureau run by social activist Sham Sahni, Sharat Sunshines, Master Advocate, Vinod Athwani, Kiran Institutes- Bollywood, Office Overhead tank belonging to Anand.

The board had issued a demolition notice to the owner on August 9 and the demolition was to be carried out on August 13. The party, however, managed to obtain a stay order from the district court against the demolition action.

According to cantonment executive officer J Sharma, the board received the copy of the order on August 13 morning. “We managed to file a written statement on the same day in the court and the judge then dismissed their injunction application after hearing the board’s say. Following the rejection of the injunction application, the board set the demolition date for August 21. The cantonment staff of the engineering section led by C K Vishwaroop and M T Shaikh of the health section were engaged in the task of demolition which began at 10 am. The demolition process is expected to be completed on Sunday. For the first time, the board also engaged the services of a gas cutter and a breaker.

Sharma explained that the board had issued notices to the owner of the building way back in 1991 and 1992 for illegal constructions. Yet, the owner went ahead and let out these portions to the tenants without seeking permission of the board. The owner was granted permission by the cantonment board for construction of ground plus five floors.

The owner however constructed two floors above the fifth floor of the building after obtaining permission to erecting hoardings on the terrace. When this matter came to light at, the board issued notices to the owner in 1991 and 1992. However the party filed an appeal under section 274 of the Cantonments Act 1924. This time however the board was prepared and ensured that no appeals were pending, he said.