Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati on Wednesday suggested construction of a new building for the residents of 96 illegal flats at Worlis Campa Cola Compound,but Jayant Tipnis,former architect of the building,said there was no free plot of land on the premises. This is not a feasible idea as the plot does not have enough empty space to construct 96 such flats. Although a small building similar to SRA houses can be constructed with an average size of 250-300 sq ft,the average flat size of Campa Cola flats is between 500 sq ft and 1,500 sq ft, Tipnis said. In a major relief for about 140 families facing the demolition of their houses,the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the demolition on humanitarian grounds. A bench led by Justice G S Singhvi took suo motu cognisance of media reports on occupants travails and put on hold the demolition minutes after the civic administration squad bulldozed its way into the Campa Cola compound in South Mumbai. In a sudden development,the bench called on Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati for a suggestion on the sensitiveness of the case. The SC called me at 2 pm as they were wrongly informed that about 75 per cent of the residents had vacated the building. However,after it came to light that the residents had not yet vacated the building,it was decided to give them more time, Vahanvati told Newsline. Exploring solutions to the problem,the bench called for his advice. The Attorney General then suggested that provided land was available,another building could be constructed to re-house the affected residents. The SC order cannot be disturbed and the demolition has to take place. However,I suggested that in case land is available for construction and given that extra FSI is available,one can propose to construct a building to rehabilitate the affected residents, Vahanvati said. The suggestion was made without much deliberation as it was meant as a quick relief for the residents. Once a stay has been granted,alternative suggestions can be thought of, he added. While residents feel that an adjoining plot of land can be purchased to construct a building,Tipnis said the adjoining plot measuring about 4,500 sq m leased out to Pure Drinks cannot be used for construction as it is meant for industrial purposes. One will have to go through a lot of legal tangles to change use from industrial to residential. This might lead to further violations, Tipnis said. In 2002,the BMC found that of the 2.11 lakh sq feet built-up area,1.86 sq feet was permissible and 24,779 sq feet needed demolition. In 2005,the BMC concluded that all flats above the fifth floor of every building were unauthorised. This worked out to 91,000-odd sq feet,including the 24,000-odd covered under the 2002 notice. Demolition notices were then issued to 83 flats,spanning 67,000 sq ft. Meanwhile,CM Prithviraj Chavan told reporters in Delhi,With the SC stay,there is a little more time to look into the issue. I have asked urban authorities to go into who was responsible for construction. (With inputs from Sandeep Ashar) sharvari.patwa@expressindia.com
