Conduct fresh survey along Tansa pipeline: Bombay HC

Mumbai: In a major relief to 45 homeowners in Jawahar Nagar at Khar (E) along the Tansa pipeline, the Bombay high court has directed the Brihanmum-bai Municipal Corpora-tion (BMC) to conduct a fresh survey and follow due procedure of evacuating the home owners if they fall in the 10 meter distance of the pipeline.

The court also directed the BMC to initiate the land acquisition procedure after the owners claimed that their homes were on private land and hence the BMC could not carry out demolition of their structures.

A division bench of justices A.S. Oka and P.N. Deshmukh was hearing the writ petition filed by the residents wherein they had claimed that even though their homes were not within the 10 meter periphery of the pipeline that supplies water to central Mumbai, the BMC had issued them eviction notices and had also started demolition work. The petitioners had also claimed that the civic body had started demolishing structures along the pipeline arbitrarily in response to an order of another court even though it had no right to demolish structures that were on private land.  

Advocate Pradeep Thorat who represented the homeowners also informed the court that though the homes were at a distance of 18 meters from the pipeline, the BMC was demolishing their structures claiming that another pipeline was going under the homes and hence the 10-meter stipulation was applicable to them too.

While the BMC had been directed to provide proofs of the claim, it failed to do so and hence the court while disposing off the petition directed the BMC to corroborate their claims with a fresh survey and also directed the BMC to initiate land acquisition proceedings and to follow due procedure.

The court also directed the municipal corporation to give the homeowners three weeks time after conducting the survey so that they can approach the court in case there are any discrepancies.