MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the BMC to demolish all illegal places of worship that encroached on public land and survived earlier demolition drives. Deadline: July 19.
Hearing a petition filed in 2002 by Bhagwanji Raiyani of Janhit Manch, Justice RM Lodha and Justice AS Bagga told the BMC to file an affidavit stating the exact number of illegal shrines in the city.
Raiyani said that pursuant to earlier court orders the BMC had begun demolishing illegal shrines. But “not only was the drive stopped abruptly, many of the demolished structures were blatantly re-erected”, he said.
The BMC told the court that it had demolished nearly 1,100 illegal places of worship, but a large number are yet to be demolished.
The court not only told the BMC to take immediate steps to demolish all remaining illegal shrines but also to ensure that they are not rebuilt.
