16 January,2017 07:00 PM IST | | Silky Sharma
An elderly couple at Bandra (West) has been forced to shift their entire living setup to the dining area of their house after residents of Ratnagiri housing society allegedly harassed them over an illegal construction in the building
An elderly couple at Bandra (West) has been forced to shift their entire living setup to the dining area of their house after residents of Ratnagiri housing society allegedly harassed them over an illegal construction in the building. The couple alleged that the society members have been harassing them for over four years now, by encroaching upon their parking space.
Septuagenarians Mr and Mrs Pai have been living in the same housing society for over 40 years - CR Pai (77) purchased a flat on the third floor when he was 31. But in 2010, they alleged, cracks started showing up on the walls of the house. "We went to fire brigade authorities in March 2010 and they sent a report to the society members citing severe structural damages in the building.
the cracks near the window and the roof of Pai's flat. Pics/Sameer Markandey
Soon after, BMC asked the society to hire an architect and repair the multiple cracks and leaks, but that's when the society members started harassing us."
Pai alleged that the cracks started developing after the resident living right above their flight extended their balcony. "The treasurer of our society has also been encroaching upon our parking space. My wife, Veena, and I have been living in fear as the cracks have extended from the roof to the floor. We have shifted our entire bed to the dining room. We have been writing to the BMC since 2012, but no action has been taken yet.
According to Pai, following BMC's previous direction to the society members to conduct repairs, society treasurer Vijay Raghani started parking his car in the space allotted for Pai to harass them. As per housing documents provided by Pai, it is clearly mentioned that he owns two parking spaces. "We had lodged a complaint for harassment at Khar police station, but the cops have not done anything so far. At this old age, there's little work we can do, so we rented out a part of our flat. But due to the cracks and the harassment, the tenant had to leave."
The BMC ward officer was unavailable for comment. But speaking to mid-day society chairman Divya Mirchandani and her husband, Nirmal, alleged that the Pais have been living in an illegal flat. They also refused allegations of harassment over parking space.
Meanwhile, society treasurer Vijay Raghani said, "I have been using that parking space for years now. Yes, there are some issues related to parking in the housing and we are trying to resolve them. But the Pais have seem to have some personal grudge, so they are piling such allegations on me."
