The Hindu 18.04.2013
Chavan firm on razing illegal structures
In wake of the building collapse in Maharashtra’s Thane district killing 74 people, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday firmly said there would be no stay on the demolition of illegal buildings declared as dangerous in Thane
Instead, residents living in such buildings would be offered alternate accommodations in rental homes built in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), said Mr. Chavan, speaking in the Assembly.
“The drive to raze 57 such buildings marked ‘extremely dangerous’ is on as planned. There are 1,097 such structures that need to be razed. It would be wrong to stop the demolition of illegal buildings since an incident like the Mumbra collapse can recur. Who will take the responsibility then?” asked Mr. Chavan.
The Chief Minister refused to accede to the demands of a section of legislators cutting across party lines demanding a stay on the soon-to-be carried out demolition drives.
Rebuking the government for its ‘delayed response’ in awakening to the problem of illegal structures, Thane legislators Eknath Shinde, Rajan Vichare (from the Shiv Sena) and Jitendra Awhad (from the Nationalist Congress Party) demanded that the drives be immediately stopped and that the illegal structures be ‘regularised’.
Mr. Chavan said those dislocated would be housed in the 3,700 rental homes already constructed under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) rental housing scheme. He also announced that illegal buildings in Thane and the MMR would now be included under the cluster redevelopment model as a long-term for the housing imbroglio.
The other temporary accommodation option the government is considering is creating large transit camps. The State government would amend the Maharashtra Region and town Planning Act to introduce development control rules for such a policy, Mr. Chavan admitted.
The existing cluster redevelopment scheme applicable here under Development Control Rule 33 (9) envisages an incentive Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4 to ensure the integrated development of a locality.
However, none of the cluster projects here have taken off so far
Mr. Chavan said amendments to the city’s cluster redevelopment scheme would be announced first after which a separate policy for MMR would be drafted. He said has not yet been decided whether FSI of 4 would be offered under this scheme in MMR.
The Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena have called for a dawn-to-dusk shutdown in Thane in protest against the drive. However, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray, while opposing the bandh has demanded stern action on contractors responsible for building illegal structures in Thane.
“The MNS will not participate in the bandh as no action has been taken against the real culprits so far. If MNS corporators are found guilty of building illegal structures, action should be taken against them as well,” he said.
