Move it, residents tell ex-Shiv Sena MLA

Water tanks of a restaurant owned by Dagdu Sakpal block safety passage of building; residents say even a court order hasn't worked

Move it, residents tell ex-Shiv Sena MLA

Water tanks of a restaurant owned by Dagdu Sakpal block safety passage of building; residents say even a court order hasn't worked

Bycylla's Noor Manzil building residents are an angry lot. Three water tanks have blocked nearly three-fourths of the safety passage of the building for the past four months.

Mahesh Wenghulkar, Nitin Gadegaokar, Narayan Bandulkar of
Noor Manzil. Pic/ Bipin Kokate

The tanks belong to restaurant Shobha situated in the building and owned by ex Shiv Sena MLA Dagdu Sakpal and his wife.

Sunday MiD DAY has a copy of the tenancy agreement and the High Court order dated October 5, 2010, which states that the water tanks are illegal, a safety hazard and should be cleared at the earliest.

The tenancy agreement also states that the premises should be used only for residential purposes, putting a question mark on the legality of the restaurant. However, three months on, the water tanks continue to block the passageway.

"In spite of obtaining a court order, we are still awaiting action. We have filed a contempt of court order, and another RTI response we filed recently has revealed that the BMC has regularised the water tanks," said Nitin Kandalgaonkar, 40, secretary of the building.

"The residents keep approaching the BMC and the fire brigade, who have visited the site and found nothing illegal," said Sakpal, confirming that the BMC has regularised the water tanks.

Deputy Municipal commissioner Milind Sawant (E Ward) said, "Our building proposal department is looking into the matter and we can take action after our investigation is complete."