21 October,2016 01:00 PM IST | | Sanjeev Shivadekar
Corporator complains that a Santacruz society meant for powerful IAS and IPS officers have blatantly flouted all rules by constructing 12-storey towers. Will the civic body act?
The 12-storey building is yet to be completed
The very people who were entrusted with protecting and enforcing the law have blatantly broken it. Taking abuse of power to new heights, a group of IAS and IPS officers have violated regulations constructing 12-storey towers in their housing society in Kalina, even though they only had permission to build up to a maximum of ground plus three storeys.
The housing society has now sent amended blueprints of the towers for regularisation of the illegal floors
The housing project for the senior bureaucrats (IAS) and police officers (IPS) is named Maitri Housing Society and is situated on MHADA land in Kalina. When the building plans were sent to BMC for approval in 2013, the society got permission to build three wings - two of the buildings were supposed to be ground+2 structures, while the third was cleared with one extra floor. Not content with this, however, the housing society decided to chuck the approved plans and built towers with 12 storeys each - three times the permitted limit.
This land was originally meant for the Pakistani consulate. But after the 26/11 terror attack, the state administration made changes in the proposal and a portion of the land was allotted to Maitri society. There are about 150 flats in total, of which the lion's share - 76 apartments - will go the IAS and IPS officers. The rest of the flats will be allotted by MHADA, since it owns the land.
Repeated complaints
Congress corporator Brian Miranda said he has been fighting against this violation for over a year, but his complaints fell on deaf ears. "I have been complaining about this for over a year now. The administration should initiate action against erring persons. The allotment of this land should also be cancelled. Norms have been flouted by norms by people who are actually supposed to ensure effective implementation of the law," said Miranda, who has also written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta, asking that they take action against the offenders.
Regularisation attempt
The towers are now nearly complete and will soon be ready for possession. Since the buildings have gone beyond the approval limit, amended blueprints have been submitted to the local ward office, so the illegal construction can be regularised.
In the meanwhile, it looks like corporator Miranda's complaints have also had some effect, as the Building Proposal (BP) department looked into the situation and prepared a status report on the issue. The report states that the three wings have indeed exceeded the height cap mentioned in the approved plans. The report further adds that the society has sent amended plans for approval. These fresh plans have now been forwarded to senior officials so they can decide on what action to take. On October 3, the executive engineer of the BP department said in a special communication, "On receipt of the municipal commissioner's directions in the matter, the proposal will be processed further."
mid-day attempted to contact BMC officials and the society members but there was no response to either calls or messages.
