BMC yet to bark at twin Worli bldgs

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) continues to drag its feet in taking action against high-profile twin societies Shubhada and Sukhada in Worli, where unauthorised alterations have been carried out.

A senior civic official said the civic body has now asked the G-south ward office to initiate further action in the matter as per the opinion of the legal department.

dna had reported on November 9 that following a dispute between the building proposal department and the designated officer from the G-south ward office, the matter was referred to the legal department to know whether the designated officer has the authority to take action based on the notices issued by the building proposal department to the societies over the violations.

“The designated officers across the city have been empowered to initiate action against unauthorised constructions in their respective wards. As per a gazette notification issued on April 15, 2013, they can initiate further action in the matter and will be asked to do so,” said a senior civic official.

The notification has made a ward’s assistant engineer (building and factory) the designated officer.

The official said that because the building proposal department issued notices to the buildings, it will take the designated officer some time to initiate action. “The designated officer will now start the process from the beginning, such as seeking the required plans, inspecting sites to verify the violations and then initiate action. The move seems to be aimed at delaying action against the twin societies in view of the upcoming elections,” he added.

In April this year, the civic body had issued notices to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, BJP leader Gopinath Munde, Punjab governor Shivraj Patil Chakurkar, Maharashtra state Congress president Manikrao Thakre and ministers Patangrao Kadam and Anil Deshmukh, among others under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, following complaints from RTI activist Amit Maru.

These politicians have allegedly converted shops allotted to them into offices and even gymnasiums and carried out unauthorised alterations. “As the societies did not remove the unauthorised alterations, the matter was forwarded to the designated officer of the G-south ward in September to initiate action,” said the official.

Illegally yours
In April, the BMC had issued notices to deputy CM Ajit Pawar, BJP leader Gopinath Munde, Punjab governor Shivraj Patil Chakurkar, state Cong president Manikrao Thakre and ministers Patangrao Kadam and Anil Deshmukh under the MRTP Act.