Mumbai: BMC takes up regular demolition action in Dharavi

Pics/ Arita Sarkar

In order to curb the illegal construction that has been a long-standing issue at Dharavi, since July 1, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has started taking up demolition work on a regular basis. On Monday, officials from G North demolished several structures in Dharavi hoping that this will deter other people from constructing structures illegally.

Assistant municipal commissioner of G North ward, Kiran Dighavkar pointed out that unauthorised construction has been a recurring problem in an area like Dharavi. "We want to discourage people from making illegal structures or extensions which is why we have decided to take continuous action spread out over eight days," he said. He added that when people illegally add additional floors, the structure is more susceptible to collapsing.

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On Monday, civic officials took up demolition at three locations in Dharavi. While one was a three-storeyed structure at Kamla Nagar, the other was a single-storeyed structure in Babban Compound while another was a two-storeyed structure called Noor Hotel near Mahim Phatak.

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Dighavkar said that apart from the demolition of illegal structures, they are also identifying habitual offenders who take up the work of building them. "We will identify them as mafia who aid in illegal construction and the police will then take action against them under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act," he said adding that civic officials hope that taking up such measures will discourage people from getting involved in illegal construction in the future.

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