CIDCO to unleash bulldozers again?

It's now been 11 days since Abhishek Developers promised to demolish illegal structures on the Green Heritage building, without CIDCO's intervention. In these 11 days, the builders have only accomplished the removal of windowpanes, that too from the clubhouse of the high-rise. The sluggish pace of the demolition seems to have finally raised the ire of CIDCO officials, who have decided to restart its demolition drive, starting today.

Bringing down the structure: Officials are unhappy with the pace of demolition and have decided to start work today. File pic

CIDCO had given the benefit of doubt to Abhishek Builders and stopped its demolition drive on July 20, when the builders promised to remove the illegal structures themselves. For the past few days, officials of the anti-encroachment department of CIDCO have been monitoring the demolition of the building.

Noting that the pace of demolition is less than expected, the bulldozers will be called out again today. "We have found that the demolition work being carried out by the developers is insignificant. We were supposed to restart our demolition drive on Monday, but postponed it by a day, since we didn't have enough manpower. We will start demolition as soon as we get the green signal from the chief controller of unauthorised constructions (CCUC)," said a CIDCO official.

Anil Patil, CCUC of CIDCO said, "I am out of station now and will return to office on Tuesday. If I come to know from my officials that demolition work has been halted, we will restart the demolition."

Asked what CIDCO's move would be if developers seek a stay, yet again, Patil said that CIDCO officials would play it by ear. "We do not want the residents to be affected, so we cannot say what action will be taken if the developers request us to stop demolition tomorrow. Proper action will be taken citing the situation at the time of the demolition."u00a0