Towering illegalities in Mumbai: As demolition threat looms, locals say why punish only us?

Days after the building collapse in Malwani that killed 12 including children in the New Collector Compound top authorities passed the buck on taking action The local MLA said that the city needs a good housing policy while the opposition accused him of turning a blind eye to the construction Meanwhile during a visit to the area midday found a number of structures rising up to 40 ft when the permissible limit for shanties is 14 ftA structure towers above the rest in MalwaniAfter the Bombay High Court recently remarked that stakeholders neglected their responsibilities in the matter the Collector and civic officials joined hands to conduct a survey of illegal constructions in MalwaniCollector Milind Borikar said ldquoThe survey is being conducted in the New as well as Old Collector compounds in Malwani BMC will erase the illegal structures at the earliest The height of shanties must be 14 ft across Mumbai We had a meeting with the ward officer and the deputy municipal commissioner Civic officials are conducting the survey in Malwani to identify the illegal structuresrdquo he saidBJPrsquos Hyder Azam said MLA Aslam Shaikh is turning a blind eye to illegal structuresldquoIt is the responsibility of BMC to take action against illegal construction as it is the planning authority for Mumbai except for some portion of MMRDA and SRArdquo Borikar saidHowever Deputy Municipal Commissioner DMC Bharat Marathe told midday that the Collector is responsible for illegal constructions in the Collector Compound in Malwani ldquoThe Collector is the landlord of New as well as Old Collector compounds in Malwani So it was the responsibility of the Collector to take care of any illegal constructionrdquo Marathe saidLanes in Malwani are congested and often encroached on by residents making rescue efforts difficult during emergenciesldquoAfter the collapse we are appointing a chief of Structural Auditors to conduct the survey and submit a report We will not touch G1 structures but all other structures above G1 will be given notice under the BMC Act to seek their documents If they fail to produce documents we will demolish their unauthorised structuresrdquo Marathe saidMost of the structures in New and Old Collector compounds Ambujwadi Azmi Nagar in Malwani are unauthorised A few are up to 40ft highBJP questions local MLABJP leader Hyder Azam said ldquoThere are a lot of illegal structures in Malwani If you have to build one the contractor will ask you to cough up additional money to secure your permissions for the same Additionally you need to bribe civic officialsrdquoldquoWhy has the local MLA Aslam Shaikh turned a blind eye even though unauthorised constructions are thriving in his constituency This needs to be investigated If a contractor is engaged in illegal construction using inferior quality materials why donrsquot you book the contractor under the MRTP Act when a building collapses and kills poor people Who protects these contractorsrdquo Azam saidGroundplustwo structures seen in Malwani The civic body has said that it would not be touching groundplusone structuresMLA Shaikh said ldquoIt is the responsibility of concerned departments to look into it The issue of illegal structures is not limited to just Malwani It is found in Goregaon Borivli Dahisar Magathane everywhere When a family grows they make unauthorised additions The city needs a good housing policyrdquo he saidResidents explain the historyAfter learning that their illegal structures will be demolished a Malwani resident said ldquoWhy will our structures be demolished We have bribed everyone to make it Why should only we suffer The concerned authority must also take action against those who were bribed before we made these structuresrdquoDecades ago the land owned by the Collector was given to people to reside in 10x15 sq ft areas They were asked to build structures no higher than 14 ft But as family members increased additions were made Malwanirsquos lanes are encroached on by residents some of whom have constructed ladders to reach higher floors During disasters it is difficult for rescuers ambulances or fire engines to reach the site An old resident of the slum said ldquoWhen people were given the Collector land the area was quite spacious There was a large playground around the shanties which were G1 The occupants did not have enough money to construct illegal structures But they illegally occupied the ground by making small rooms which were given on rent to karkhana owners to run small scale businesses like tailoring imitation jewelleryrdquoShanties spread across Azmi Nagar in Rathodi MalwanildquoPeople preferred giving their illegal structures on rent to businessmen on heavy deposit as families would have given peanuts as rent The amount collected as deposit was used to make illegal structures This became a lucrative option as people were getting good returnsrdquo he addedldquoGradually almost everyone residing in the Collector Compound made illegal constructions and encroached the land for personal benefit but none of these structures has beamspillars for supportrdquo the resident saidMalwani policersquos beat chowki no 2 near a BMC marketldquoInitial years were peaceful as no building collapsed But for the past few years the base of the structures has corroded with time Also the construction material was compromised This is why they donrsquot survive the first spell of monsoonrdquo he saidldquoMany old structures got tilted but these have been supported by iron rails This poses a threatrdquo the resident added14 FTPermissible height of shanties in Malwani