Indian Express 27.10.2010
Cleared highrise but not involved in scam: MMRDA
Express News Service Tags : Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, scam, mumbai Posted: Wed Oct 27 2010, 05:22 hrs
Mumbai: Days after an alleged misuse of a prime south Mumbai property meant to house war veterans and war widows came to the fore, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which has issued the occupation certificates (OC) to the 31-storey apartment that now stands on the property, says it is “not involved” in any way. The OCs were issued by MMRDA on September 16 to the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society, Cuffe Parade.The OCs, according to metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, were processed only after all the other premissions were given by several authorities.
“The land was given by the state to the society. Many correspondence had gonet back and forth between the collector, BMC and other agencies. We only came into the picture for issuing OCs as MMRDA is the special planning authority of the area. While all the other documents and permissions are in order, so why should we hold back the OCs?” said Gaikwad.
He said when the authority was processing the OCs, the Naval authorities wrote to MMRDA citing security concerns. “While we were processing the certificates, we received a vague letter from the Naval authorities citing security concerns with respect to the list of members of the society. The list is with the collector, not with MMRDA. Why wasn’t there any objection when the building was sanctioned or being constructed?”
The owners’ list includes a former naval chief, two former army chiefs, several other senior officers, relatives of state bureaucrats, members of Parliament and Ramchandra Sonelal Thakur who retired from the defence estates department.
A statement from the Ministry of Defence said the Naval authorities had requested government agencies not to grant the occupation certificates until an inquiry was conducted. The 31-storey building had been planned as a six-storey building earlier.
“The BMC sanctioned the height and MMRDA is not involved in that too,” said Gaikwad.
