BMC's problems with actor Rani Mukerji's Juhu bungalow seem to have ended. Officials from the civic body's Building Proposal department have regularised the additional work in the bungalow after Mukerji paid Rs 23.30 lakh
BMC's problems with actor Rani Mukerji's Juhu bungalow seem to have ended. Officials from the civic body's Building Proposal department have regularised the additional work in the bungalow after Mukerji paid Rs 23.30 lakh as development and regularisation charges. mid-day was the first to highlight the alleged irregularities in the bungalow in an August 25 report.
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Rani Mukerji
Back in August, a few activists had complained to the BMC's K West ward about certain irregularities being carried out at the KrishnaRam bungalow, which belongs to Mukerji. Following the complaints, civic officials had issued a notice under section 488 of the MMC Act to the actor for inspection.
Rani Mukerji's KrishnaRam bungalow in Juhu
After the inspection, civic officials had also issued a stop work notice to Mukerji in the last week of August for carrying out additions and alterations to the structure that were not according to the approved plans.
The regularisation saga
The civic officials had received a proposal regarding the amended plans for the additional construction but on their visit, the work had already been carried out, even before the plans were approved. Thus, the civic body then issued the stop work notice.
Rani Mukerji
Since the work cannot begin again unless the plans are approved, and because the contractors wanted to finish work on the bungalow at the earliest, the regularisation and development charges were paid to BMC last month, said officials from the Building Proposal department.
The additional construction was carried out in actor Rani Mukerji's KrishnaRam bungalow in Juhu. File pics
The last approved area, according to the recovery sheet for the bungalow, was 369.74 square meters, whereas the proposed area was 414.90 sq metres.
Civic officials said the architects have paid the amount for the difference of 45.16 sq metres. The Rs 23.30 lakh payment includes IOD (intimation of disapproval) deposit, debris deposit, development charges and regularisation fees.
An officer from the building proposal department said, "We have received a payment of Rs 23 lakh and there is no more amount to be recovered, thus we have regularised the construction work that has been carried out there." Mukerji's spokesperson did not want to comment on the issue.
Activists dissatisfied
But to the dismay of the civic body and Mukerji, the activists who complained against the irregularities are dissatisfied with the penalty amount and claim that the charges are more than what has been paid. Nikitesh Chaubal, an activist, said, "We will now write to the municipal commissioner asking for a vigilance inquiry to be called against the Building Proposal department's officers, as the amount to be recovered would be definitely more, but [has not been so as] they are hand in gloves with the actor."
Ganesh Kusumulu, another activist who had complained about this issue, said, "The penalty amount will be much more than what has already been paid, but BMC officials do not want to do anything to recover their amount and just want to support the actor."
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