The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday issued notices to the private hotel adjoining the Digambar Jain Temple at Vile Parle, parts of which were demolished last week. The civic body’s move came a day after BMC authorities carried out an inspection of the hotel premises.
Civic officials said the notices were served under Section 53 (1) of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP), 1966, for unauthorised construction. Earlier, a notice under similar sections were issued to the temple trust, before the civic authorities carried out demolition of the building. According to the BMC’s Act, the recipients of the notices are given a 30-day timeline for replying to the notice.
“The hotel dates back to 1977 and with time, some changes have been implemented in the structure. We have compared these changes with the approved plan, that is available with the BMC’s Development Planning (DP) department, and sent them notices. We have given them a 30-day deadline to reply to us,” an official said.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the state minority commission also accepted submission from the BMC about the actions that they had taken up.
“Following the commission’s directions, we have lodged a police complaint against civic officials. We maintain our stand that the temple was damaged in an illegal manner. In 2013, the BMC’s internal law department had passed a resolution stating that the structure couldn’t be demolished,” Atul Shah, trustee of the temple, told the Indian Express.
On the morning of April 16, the BMC’s K/East (KE) ward office razed portions of the Digambar Jain temple in Mumbai’s western suburbs, alleging that portions of the structure were illegal. The BMC action came a day after the city civil court rejected the temple trust’s plea for extension of interim protection against demolition action.
The trustees of the temple, along with the members of the Jain community, alleged that the civic body’s move was influenced by the private hotel owner’s plan of expanding their premises—an allegation that has been refuted by the hotel owners. When contacted by The Indian Express, the hotel management declined to comment.
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The incident resulted in massive furore among members of the Jain community, who hit the streets as a sign of protest. Politicians across party lines too came down heavily on the BMC, prompting the civic administration to issue a transfer order for Assistant Municipal Commissioner Navnath Ghadhe, who headed the KE office.
Civic and court records accessed and evaluated by The Indian Express show that the first notice for demolishing the structure was issued to the temple trust owners in 2005, and in the past two decades, nine attempts were made to demolish the structure. The action taken on April 16 was the first time in 20 years that the BMC was able to initiate a full-fledged demolition drive at the site.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd