Minister of environment and forests (MoEF) Jairam Ramesh will take recourse of section 15 of Environment Protection Act (EPA) to get the state government to enforce its demolition order if Adarsh housing society fails to comply within three months.
If implemented, the 31-storeyed building in Colaba will be the first residential structure to be pulled down for violation of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday said, “The government has adopted a wait and watch policy. As the MoEF has sent the notice to Adarsh, the onus is on the society to execute it. We are closely monitoring the development.”
Chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad said, “If necessary, the state environment department will take a final call on Adarsh.”
Officials in the environment ministry asserted that since Adarsh has violated CRZ norms, there is no question of changing the MoEF order.
The ball is now in the high court, as Adarsh society members have decided to challenge the demolition order.
The state’s immediate concern is to meet the January 25 deadline for filing an affidavit in the court on a series of violations by the state government.
Earlier, Adarsh had challenged the government’s decision to revoke its occupation certificate, which it claimed was issued by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) after obtaining consent from the urban development department headed by then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Officials in the ministry of urban development, ministry of environment and the legal department on Monday were busy with the draft.
The government will have to explain why it issued the occupation certificate without environmental clearance. It will also have to reason out how and under what conditions it allowed use of the adjacent Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) undertaking plot to sanction additional floor space index (FSI).
A secretary in the chief minister’s office said, “It is going to be a tight ropewalk to ensure there are no contradictions in the affidavit. Putting up a defense for violation of rules is not going to be an easy exercise.”
