Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ordered the Collector, Mumbai Suburban to demolish part of 48 high-rise buildings near the Mumbai International Airport in compliance with the orders of the DGCA. According to the order of the Bombay High Court, the part of the house above a certain height is to be demolished. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice MG Sevlikar was hearing public interest litigations (PILs) filed by Yashwant Shenoy, seeking action against construction beyond the prescribed height limit around the city’s airport. According to Shenoy, these buildings pose a risk to aircraft taking off and landing at the airport here and may someday cause some untoward incident.
The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Mumbai Suburban District Magistrate to explain how action would be taken against buildings that exceed the prescribed limit near the city’s airport. Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice M.S. A division bench of Karnik also pulled up the district magistrate for trying to pass on the responsibility to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and said the collector has to do something about this “danger” (obstacles near the airport). The court also suggested the authorities to cut off electricity and water supply to buildings that have been issued notices for height violations.
The high court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Yashwant Shenoy, which raised concerns over the dangers posed by tall buildings near the Mumbai airport. It was informed by ‘Mumbai International Airport Limited’ (MIAL) that surveys are carried out from time to time and in 2010 a total of 137 buildings/structures posing a threat were identified. Out of these 137 buildings, final orders have been passed in 63 cases. Of these, appeals have been filed in nine cases and compliances have been made in six buildings.
The court was told that the remaining 48 structures needed to be demolished immediately as no compliance or appeal has been filed. The bench on Friday absolved the collector of his responsibility and said in an affidavit filed in the high court that the demolition has to be done by the BMC as it is the planning authority of Mumbai.
