Residents protest tearing down of heritage bungalow
BMC issued stopwork notice to new owner of heritage bungalow in Apr; may file FIR on demolition
Eeshanpriya M S
MUMBAI: Striving to preserve the 200-year-old heritage precinct of Khotachiwadi in Girgaum, in South Mumbai, its residents will submit a letter to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday urging the civic body to follow-up on its decision to file a First Information Report (FIR) against unauthorised demolition and the plan for the redevelopment of a bungalow in the precinct.
On May 6, the BMC wrote a letter to the Mumbai police to take action against the owners of the bungalow for unauthorised demolition, but an FIR in this regard has not yet been filed. The residents will submit a grievance letter to BMC and the Mumbai Heritage Committee on Monday and follow-up with the building proposals department of the civic body in Wadala.
Andre Baptista, a resident of Khotachiwadi, said, “We will take signatures of all the residents of Khotachiwadi over the weekend, and submit our letter to BMC’S ward office, building proposals office, and the heritage committee on Monday. This is an initiative by the neighbourhood to preserve this heritage precinct.”
Andre is an archaeologist and a historian, and a fourth-generation resident of Khotachiwadi, raised in the same house as his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father.
Prashant Gaikwad, assistant commissioner of the D-ward, with jurisdiction over the area, said, “BMC has issued a stopwork notice to the owner of the bungalow on April 28, and we intimated the police about this on May 6. FIR will be filed soon.”
On April 27, a local from the area complained to BMC regarding unauthorised demolition of a bungalow in the precinct. BMC officers inspected the premises on the same day.
On April 28, the civic body issued a stop-work notice under section 354A of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC)
Act 1888, to Nilesh Shah, owner/ occupier of this ground plus one storey Bungalow, No. 28, known as Fernandez House for demolishing the rear side of the structure, without acquiring permission from the BMC as required under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966.
Following this, the BMC wrote a letter intimating VP Road police station at Girgaum on May 6 (a copy of this letter is with HT).
The letter reads, “The accused have thus carried out development of the aforesaid land in contravention of the provisions of the MRTP Act 1966 and have thereby committed an offence under section 52 read with section 43 of the said act. The said offence committed by the accused has been made cognizable as per provisions of the MRTP act. I, therefore, request you to take cognizance of the offence and deal with the accused according to law.”
James Ferreira, another resident of Khotachiwadi, said, “As a community, we are striving for the preservation of this heritage precinct, which means no redevelopment.”
According to information from BMC’S heritage cell, Khotachiwadi is listed as a precinct, and before construction will start, permission from the heritage committee of the civic body will be required for the work. Khotachiwadi is a small village in the heart of Mumbai, known for its distinct old bungalows and picturesque lanes.