BMC soft on illegal extensions by celebrities, says Mhada

The state housing authority has blamed the civic body for “going slow” on demolition of unauthorised extensions in Versova as most “belong” to Bollywood celebrities.

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), which owns a 40-acre plot in Aaram Nagar area of Versova has claimed that despite having orders from the Bombay high court, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was guilty of inaction.

In a letter to BMC chief Ajoy Mehta dated June 7, 2016, Mhada vice-president, S.S. Zende, has stated, “It is pointed out that in Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No. 88 of 2015, High Court by order dated 21/12/2015 had directed the BMC to carry out demolition of unauthorised constructions in Aaram Nagar for which according to the court order Mhada also deposited Rs 70 lakh with the BMC... However, in spite of making these efforts, no effective action of demolition has been taken.”

The letter further pointed out that if effective action was taken by the BMC, then it could amount to contempt of high court, and the court might take serious view of the matter.

Mahmood Shaikh, a petitioner in the high court, said around 22 Bollywood celebrities had made illegal extensions in the area. “The BMC has been going slow on the demolition of illegal extensions which have been made by around 22 Bollywood celebrities such as Kailash Kher, Shakti Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Javed Jaffrey, to name a few. The land was allotted to celebrities back in 1942 and is owned by the Mhada. The celebrities have also converted the residential structures into commercial production houses. Action against them has been very slow and not a single demolition of any of the illegal extension has been carried out yet,” said Mr Shaikh, who works for the Disha NGO.

According to senior Mhada officials, they have been coordinating with the BMC officials for the past five years and there has been no positive response from the latter.

Mhada officials said though the BMC had sent notices to residents, it was yet to take action. However, the BMC denies any foul play and claimed it was regularly carrying out the demolition work and had also filed an affidavit regarding the same at the court.

“We have been carrying out regular demolition drives as per the machinery available with us,” said Parag Masurkar, assistant commissioner, K/west ward, BMC.

However, Mr Masurkar did not provide any information about how many illegal structures had been demolished hitherto, when the work would be complete.