Mumbai, Aug 23 (PTI) Parts of eight out of the 48 structures in the vicinity of the Mumbai airport will be demolished in a month for violating the height norms, Mumbai suburban district collector has told the Bombay High Court.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik had last month directed the collector to specify the measures to be taken for razing parts of the 48 structures identified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) as violative of height regulations.
While periodical surveys are carried out to identify such structures, the MIAL in 2017 informed the suburban collector’s office that 48 such structures need to be demolished.
The high court then asked the collector to list the steps to be taken for the demolition of these 48 structures.
The order was passed on public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Yashwant Shenoy raising concerns over the dangers posed by high-rises located near the Mumbai airport.
In the affidavit filed in the high court on Monday, Mumbai suburban district collector Nidhi Choudhari said of these 48 structures, the collector’s office was facing difficulty in ascertaining the specific details regarding 15 structures. While eight structures would be demolished in a month, 22 structures have already been removed as per the MIAL and the process to identify the remaining three structures is still on.
“The deputy collector (encroachment removal) has been instructed to hold a meeting with the owners of the eight structures and to ensure the removal of the said structures within a month,” the affidavit said.
As per the MIAL, out of the 48 structures, 22 structures have been already removed, it said.
A letter was sent on August 10 to the DGCA and MIAL seeking details of the 15 structures for further action.
“In the absence of specific details such as the nature of the structure, description of the structure and type of structure, it is difficult to cause its removal and to take further action,” the affidavit said. PTI SP NSK NSK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.