20 November,2014 07:21 AM IST | | Ankoor Anvekar
Belapur district court officials approached Bombay HC to restart water connection for the under-construction court complex which, they claim, was abruptly discontinued by NMMC’s water supply department
Ours is a country where getting civic work done requires running from pillar to post, and even court officials are not exempt. Officials from the Belapur district court had to approach the Bombay High Court to restart construction work on the much-delayed district court at Sector-15 in Belapur.
The under-construction Belapur district court complex at Sector 29 in CBD Belapur
Construction of the court complex at CBD Belapur was stalled after the civic body abruptly discontinued the water supply, claimed senior officials at the court. After a hearing on November 3, the high court ordered the NMMC to restore the water connection to the construction site.
Uttam Sarkar, vice-president of Navi Mumbai Court Bar Association, said, "The NMMC suddenly stopped the water supply, just a few months after the construction work commenced. Hence, last month, during the hearing of a petition that was filed in 2009 by the association about the lack of funds from the state for the project, we also highlighted the water supply issue."
Behind schedule
The suggestion for constructing a new court complex was first made in 2007. The proposal was made by the court administration citing space crunch, which had resulted in an increase in number of pending cases.
The cost of the new court complex was pegged at Rs 20 crore and is to be built on a plot measuring 19,480 sq m near Killa Gaothan Junction on Palm Beach road in Belapur. The new complex is supposed to house 20 different courts, including civil, criminal and consumer.
The construction work of the ground plus four-storeyed structure began in December 2013 and was supposed to be completed in 18 months. Currently, the court functions from a 3,500 sq ft Central Government Office complex (CGO), located at Sector 29 in CBD Belapur on rent.
