Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
Demolition of illegal Nerul bldg begins
Two duplexes of Palm Towers society have been razed, 20 more flats in two wings of the compound are due for demolition
NAVI MUMBAI: Even as residents of the Campa Cola compound in Mumbai managed to convince the Supreme Court to stay the demolition of parts of the compound, owners of illegally constructed flats in Palm Towers of Seawoods, Nerul, have had no such luck.
Following orders of t he Bombay high court, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) began the demolition drive in the 14-storey building in sector 42A, on Wednesday.
While two duplex flats were razed through the day, 20 more flats in the two wings of the compound are due for demolition in the days to come.
Three floors in the building, which is uninhabited, were built illegally and despite notices by NMMC officials, no action was taken by the builder.
“T he s ociety has about 1,500 sqm of illegal construction. The demolition will take place in various stages,” said Manohar Gangurde, NMMC’s ward officer. While the 13th and 14th f l oors of A wing which house eight flats will be razed, the 12th, 13th and 14th floors of the B wing with 12 flats will be demolished.
Although the chaos at the Worli compound had prompted heavy police bandobast at Nerul as well, there was no opposition by flat owners.
However, the society contin- ued to deny all allegations of illegal structures and instead blamed the contractor for the state of affairs. The contractor, in turn, denied playing a role in the illegality.
In fact, the society had tried to save the demolition of the flats in March this year by raz- ing 40 shops from its premises. This was done to use the floorspace index (FSI) of the shops to regularise the three extra floors that had been constructed.
However, shop owners claimed this was against the Supreme Court’s order.