Six months on, civic body yet to act against 370 illegal buildings

Anti-encroachment department had conducted a survey of city after Mumbra collapse

NAVI MUMBAI: Following the orders of Bombay high court, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) began with the demolition of 14-storey Palm Towers in Seawoods early this week but it is yet to take action against 370 illegal structures that are under construction in the city.

In May, following the collapse of an under-construction building in Mumbra, the anti-encroachment department of civic body conducted a survey to ascertain illegal constructions in the city. While it has been six months since the NMMC found 370 such structures, it is yet to correct the anomaly.

In fact, senior officials from the civic body, along with others from Cidco and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) had formed a committee to find measures to curb the rampant illegal constructions in the satellite city. But the committee is yet to convene its first meeting.

The department had also begun a drive before Diwali this year to keep a check on illegal constructions. However, the civic body chose to only issue notifications to those responsible. No stern action was taken.

“We had issued notices to all 370 [illegal] structures. We are now proceeding with the demo- lition work of Palm Towers in Seawoods,” said Prakash Waghmare, assistant municipal commissioner (encroachment).

Officials also said that demolition work often stalled because either the cases were taken up in courts, which led to stay orders on the demolition, or pleas would remain pending. This has been a major reason why the civic body has been unable to crack the whip.

With no recent surveys to rely on, the civic body is still depend- ant on data from the 2010 survey. As per the high court directive, 23,323 illegal buildings exist on Cidco and MIDC plots. Since then, it is safe to assume that the number of illegal constructions have increased several fold.

While the demolition of Palm Towers, and that of an unauthorised unit of a hotel in CBD Belapur are a start, more work needs to be done.