Mumbai: Will take BMC to court for flouting own rules, say Malad residents

Residents of Krishna Baug have planned to move court against the BMC which last month pulled down the residential portion of the 100yearold Malad building and left the commercial floor intact This despite the fact that the structure was tagged C1 dangerous and dilapidated which mandates complete demolition according to the BMCrsquos rulesRajaram Ketkar 65 said he feels cheated as the BMCrsquos action has allowed the commercial establishments to continue their businessSpeaking to midday Ketkar cited civic rules which states that once the Technical Advisory Committee TAC inspects a structure and finds it unfit for occupancy it has to be served notice and razedViolating own rulesldquoTAC inspected Krishna Baug and found it dangerous and unfit for occupancy Accordingly the BMC served C1 notice However P North ward office ignoring the rulebook demolished the residential portion and left the commercial establishment untouched This action has left residents homeless while shops continue to do business as usual I am seeking legal opinion on what can be done to ensure that the families dislodged by BMCrsquos biased action get their shelter back at the earliestrdquo Ketkar saidAlso Read Mumbai Use existing parking lots first and spare Patwardhan Park say Bandra residentsThe BMC on February 2 tore down the residential portion of Krishna Baug with blue shed which was tagged C1 but left the ground floor shops intact PicNmesh DaveThere have been disputes in the past between the BMC and occupants over demolition of properties under C1 with the latter seeking relief from actionIn 2016 a case before the then Bombay High Court bench of Justices Naresh Patil and M S Karnik the petitioners had challenged BMCrsquos C1 notice and requested a stay on demolition stating that the structure is in good condition and if required they will carry out repairs The bench refused to stay the C1 noticeIn the case of Krishna Baug residents want the BMC to follow its own rules and demolish the remaining portionPradeep Tiwari who lost his home in the partial demolition said ldquoIn many court cases involving a challenge to C1 notice BMCs lawyers have consistently maintained that the structure declared C1 must be pulled down completely and immediately But in our case the BMC did the opposite of what it has been telling the courts for yearsrdquoPlan to approach courtTiwari said he is in touch with a lawyer to take the BMC to court He said he would also speak to other displaced residents to approach the court togetherThreeandahalf storey Krishna Baug opposite the busy Malad railway station comprised eight homes and 10 shops It was declared dangerous in 2019 and was marked for demolition in 2021midday contacted BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal many times over the past twothree days for comment but he did not respondIn 2019 a building in Kurla was tagged C1 after which the occupants got an independent audit done that categorised it as not requiring demolition A few months later the building collapsed killing 19 people This prompted the BMC to issue an order to all wards asking to prepare a list of all C1 buildings and demolish them on priorityFeb 2Day the BMC partially pulled down Krishna Baug10No of shops that are still open at Krishna Baug