Architect who didn’t submit design plans still absconding

Mumbai: The police is yet to arrest architect B.R. Gandhi who has been absconding ever since the  Brihan-mumbai Municipal Cor-poration (BMC) report on the Kamala Mills fire case came out. Gandhi had not submitted the design plans of the sub-division of the two rooftop restaurants 1 Above and Mojo’s Bistro with the civic body. In his statement to the BMC, he said that the work of submitting documents was undertaken by his employee named Raju. 

According to the police, the report submitted by BMC chief Ajoy Mehta to CM Devendra Fadnavis stated that criminal action should be initiated against the architect. According to the report, the police arrested the owners of Kamala Mills and the fire brigade official, who allegedly submitted a false report. However, the architect is nowhere to be traced in the city. 

Ahmed Pathan, senior police inspector of NM Joshi police station said, “The architect, B.R. Gandhi, has not turned up for the probe questioning, and we have sent teams to his hometown in Ahmedabad to look for him.”

According to the BMC probe report, the architect did not submit the plan online in 2017 for subdivision. He also did not visit the site after the additions were made in 2017. In his statement to the BMC, Gandhi mentioned that Raju, a draftsman in his office, had submitted the design proposal on Gandhi’s behalf. Raju, who is also an architect, is from Kerala. In case of site inspection after new alterations, Gandhi furnished the same reason to the BMC. 

Gandhi admitted that he had last visited the site in 2014, as he is based in Ahmedabad and not Mumbai. He is the architect of the entire Trade House building. The architects did not have any records of site inspections with proper dates. “The architects on inspection during construction should not only record the date of inspection, but must also record the deviations and violations seen and submit the same to the approving authority,” said a civic official.