Locals demolish own structures to avoid BMC fine

Adarsh Nagar residents hired labourers to pull down illegal portions of their houses before the BMC squad arrived at the scene

Locals demolish own structures to avoid BMC fine

Adarsh Nagar residents hired labourers to pull down illegal portions of their houses before the BMC squad arrived at the scene

The hectic activity at Adarsh Nagar in Andheri (W) yesterday must have sent the imagination of passers-by in a tizzy at the sight of residents and labourers, wielding sledgehammers and crowbars, tearing down parts of their own homes.

Residents allege that BMC employs rough methods while demolishing, which damages other parts of the structure

Prompted by the fear of being fined by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), residents of the area conducted small demolition drives of their own to remove all traces of any illegal structures they might have erected in the past.

The BMC in the past month has been conducting extensive demolition drives against illegal structures at various locations in the city, and the present drive is being seen as one of its biggest yet.

Speaking to MiD DAY, Adarsh Nagar resident Tushar Mhaskar said, "I have observed the rough methods used by BMC while demolishing illegal structures and now that I know that action is being taken, I have personally appointed labourers to demolish the illegal portion of my house.
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I have to ensure that BMC does not touch my structure. Apart from that, I don't want to be fined by BMC."

Wrong end

Residents are aware that they will end up on the losing end anyway.

The BMC lists all illegal structures and then brings in the heavy machinery and support staff to tear down the structures, damaging sections of the building that have been approved in the process.

During the drive, not only are the guilty required to pay hefty fines, but the BMC also confiscates scrap metal and other material of value used to erect illegal structures.

Though demolition drives are quite profitable for metal scrap dealers and private civil labourers, the guilty on the other hand, lose a vast amount of money.

The cost of demolishing an illegal structure varies anywhere between Rs 15,000 and 25,000, and this cost including a hefty fine, must be borne by the owner of the illegal structure.

Therefore, people conducting their own personal demolition drive will be able to salvage some material and get back a part of what they have invested by selling off metal scrap and plastic sheets.

"I can get back at least Rs 15,000 to 25,000 by selling the scrap material from the illegal structure I have demolished," said a resident who did not wish to be named.

Demolition drive

Speaking to MiD DAY, Assistant Municipal Commissioner Ramesh Pawar said, "On Thursday, we demolished around 50 commercial structures at Adarsh Nagar.

The demolition drive will continue till January 15, after which we will submit our report in court."

The task, that began in December 2010, has been sourced out by the BMC to two private contractors for Rs 2.68 crore.
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The drive is being seen as one of the biggest demolition drives in Mumbai and is presently focussing on Adarsh Nagar, Laxmi Industrial Estate and SVP Nagar at Andheri (W).

Ek Cutting!
Demolition Man

G R KHAIRNAR, former Deputy Municipal Commissioner of the BMC, also known as 'Demolition Man', is an admired legend, known for his fearlessness and single-minded pursuit of objectives.

Khairnar joined the corporation as an assistant accountant, Grade I, in 1974 and became Deputy Municipal Commissioner in January 1988.

During the course of his career he took on several daunting tasks and became the darling of the middle class for his ruthless drives against unauthorised constructions and hawkers occupying public space.

u00a0He is remembered for single-handedly taking on the mafia-controlled system of hawking and demolishing an illegal structure owned by the relative of a minister and pulling down a Shiv Sena shakha.