3-storey illegal bldg near airport razed
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday pulled down a three-storey illegal building located close to the airport at Sutar Pakhadi, as it posed a security threat owing to its height.
The 10,000-sqft building, which was meant to be a hotel with 30 rooms, was razed, seven months after BMC first brought up the issue with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is the special planning authority for the area.
The demolition of the building was stuck as according to BMC, it did not receive any response from MMRDA. The issue was later resolved, post which a stopwork notice was sent to the hotel owners.
The building was razed within in 12 hours on Thursday evening after the hotel owners continued construction despite the notice. Moreover, on Wednesday, bouncers at the site misbehaved with the civic staff and threatened them, following which BMC co-ordinated with the local police to get the work done, said assistant municipal commissioner of K-east (Andheri) ward, Prashant Sapkale.
To avoid any more clashes between BMC and the hotel staff, the ward office employed 30 workers and a unit of 20 policemen during demolition.
BMC also filed a caveat in the court after sending a stop-work notice to the owners. A caveat is an application submitted by a person, informing the court that the other party may file a suit or an application against the caveator. In such a situation, the court must give the caveator a fair hearing.