Kamala Mills’ FSI ‘violations’ to be probed

Mumbai: The alleged irregularities in the entire Kamala Mills compound at Lower Parel have come under the scanner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The civic body has formed a special committee to probe the alleged building proposal and Floor Space Index (FSI) violations in the Mill premises.

On December 29 last year, 14 people were killed in a major fire at two restobars, 1 Above and Mojo's Bistro, in the Kamala Mills compound. The incident brought to the fore the alleged irregularities in the constructions in the mill premises. The BMC chief Ajoy Mehta has formed a committee under additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal to probe the mishap.

According to civic officials, there seems to be lot of irregularities related to building proposal and FSI at Kamala Mills. Under the Information Technology (IT) policy, the mill compound, which was classified as an IT park, was given a double FSI of 2.66 under the condition that 80 per cent of properties in it would be used for IT purpose only and only 20 per cent can be used for other purposes, like commercial and entertainment.

"We have found that there are lot of building proposal and FSI violations. The fact that lot of space in Kamala Mills compound has been allotted to restaurants and establishments other than IT,  makes us suspect that conditions in IT policy might not have been followed," said a senior civic official.

The civic body has formed a sub-committee, which will look into alleged misuse of FSI and violations of building proposal conditions. It will also inspect whether the land allotted for restaurants and eating houses exceeds the 20 per cent limit given for other purposes, he added.

The role of Kamala Mills authorities and civic officials, who gave permission to allow restaurants, eating houses, media houses and finance centres to come up at the premises is also likely to come under  the scanner during the probe.