Mumbai: No respite to the builder who exploded smoke bomb in Andheri, MHADA freezes demolition

Screengrabs of a clip shot by a resident of the demolition of the building located in Andheri West’s Sangam Society complex

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority will not revoke the stop-work order at the Andheri construction site until the builder follows dust-mitigation guidelines. The building has been partially demolished and work stopped midway. MHADA also issued a stop work order to the Sangam Society redevelopment project on Monday for not following dust-mitigation guidelines.

Officials of the MHADA planning department told mid-day, "We have issued a stop work notice to the builder on Monday. Now builders need to prove that all dust-mitigation guidelines are being followed. Till then the stop work order will continue." Officials added, "Builders need to submit their compliance in writing, then our team will visit the spot and check if all points of dust mitigation are implemented.

Only then will we withdraw the stop work notice." Meanwhile, BMC will also revoke its stop work notice if the builder follows dust-mitigation guidelines. BMC officials said that the stop work notice from MHADA is more important, as MHADA is the planning authority and issues building permissions for construction.

An old eight-storey building of Sangam Society was razed on Monday for redevelopment. During the demolition, the builder did not follow BMC's dust-mitigation guidelines, including failure to erect continuous dust-breaking tin sheets/metal sheets higher than 25 feet, not using tarpaulin/green cloth/jute sheets to cover the building, lack of water sprinkling on site, and leaving construction materials and debris uncovered. Grinding, cutting, drilling, sawing, and trimming work was not done in enclosed areas, and continuous water sprinkling and fogging were not maintained while working.

The building, in the Sangam Society complex, is being redeveloped. "With rising AQI numbers and dust pollution going through the roof with unabated violations of norms by developers, the BMC has to make fines steeper so that citizens' health doesn't get affected time and again thanks to such developers, said Dhaval Shah, founder of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association.

"Builders are taking rules very lightly as fines are extremely low and they can work around the system. We need steep penalties for such offences so that others learn a lesson and stop taking residents for granted," Karan Jotwani, an Andheri West resident, said.

According to the BMC's 28-point dust-mitigation guidelines, during the demolition of the structure water should be sprinkled and the construction site should be surrounded by 25-foot-tall tin sheets.