Illegal structures: 76K complaints, only 4,866 razings

The BMC’S method of filing an online complaint is technically difficult. It requires you to fill in latitude, longitude of the area where the illegal construction is happening SHAKEEL AHMED SHAIKH, Adhikar Foundation

MUMBAI: Between March 2016 and October 2019, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received more than 76,000 online complaints about illegal constructions in the city. But the civic body initiated action only against 4,866 of these cases (6%), according to a right to information (RTI) query.

Out of the total 76,491 complaints received on the civic body’s Removal of Encroachment Tracking Management System (RETMS), 33,417 were duplicate complaints, which mean multiple complaints about the same case. This meant there were only 43,074 unique complaints.

The maximum number of complaints (7,514) came from Malad (P-north Ward). Action was initiated only against 530 of them. Kurla (L-ward) registered 7,008 complaints, but only 341 saw any official scrutiny.

Even within the 4,866 cases in which the civic body initiated action (issuing notices, acquiring police supervision), only 4,253 demolitions were carried out.

Even as BMC closed 8,761 complaints, it is yet to recover costs in 3,314 cases. It issued a total of 17,781 notices to owners of illegal structures in this period.

Adhikar Foundation’s Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh, who filed the RTI, said the ground reality was completely different. “The BMC’S method of filing an online complaint is technically difficult for a layman. It requires you to fill in latitude, longitude of the area where the illegal construction is happening or done which you will find on the ward maps,” he said.

Shaikh said since the wards do not accept written complaints, everyone had to file an online complaint. “This requires a computer or a laptop which most people don’t have,” he said.