Navi Mumbai: CIDCO suspends Belapur hill demolition amid landslide fears

The City and Industrial Development Corporation CIDCO of Maharashtra has suspended the demolition of illegal religious structures on the Belapur Hill slope due to concerns about potential landslides caused by the ongoing heavy rainsThe demolition of 30 religious structures began after the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission MSHRC took suo motu notice of media reports highlighting landslide risks on the hill which pose a threat to lives and properties on and below the slopeCIDCO had served notices to 30 illegal religious structures covering over 32 lakh square feet on the hill equivalent to carpet area of some 400 flats of one BHK size information obtained by environment watchdog NatConnect Foundation under the RTI Act showedThe MSRHC served notices on the state government as well as CIDCO and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation to explain their positionGiven the numerous structures on unstable slopes we fear that Wayanadtype tragedies may occur as illegal construction has also led to the destruction of many trees that stabilise the soil said B N Kumar Director of NatConnect He urged for preventive measures to be takenMeanwhile CIDCO with the help of over 100 policemen started the demolition but called it off after breaking parts of two structures as the soil started giving in during heavy downpours ldquoIt is risky to continue the operation as the heavy machinery that brings down the structures can also cause landslidesrdquo a CIDCO official remarkedIt is a Catch22 situation for CIDCO since they are answerable to the Human Rights Commission Kumar observedVideo footage from the hill slope showed cracks on the way and along some walls he said and agreed with CIDCO that it is a dangerous situationldquoThis is exactly what we have been apprehending and which is why we organised a silent human chain protest to focus attention on the landslide threatsrdquo said Himanshu Katkar a resident of Kalpataru Cooperative Housing Society below the hillKumar expressed his shock that the illegal structures against which the first complaint was lodged in 2015 were allowed to go on for nine years though the construction could be seen from CIDCO headquartersCIDCO in its affidavit at MSHRC said the demolition work could not be carried out as planned due to the lack of police security ldquoWe needed security as running bulldozers over religious structures is a sensitive issuerdquo CIDCO saidNatConnect therefore appealed to the Commission to make even the police commissioner a respondent in the case and ask him for his versionNMMC on its part committed that it would cooperate with CIDCO in the demolitionThe State Revenue Department has informed the rights body that the hill has been handed over to CIDCO while CIDCO said NMMC is the planning authority for the area In view of this dispute the MSHRC asked the State Chief Secretary to make the government stand clearThe next hearing is slated for August 26