Worli society turns seashore into car lot
Collector slaps Madhuli with show-cause notice.
An opulent Worli society facing the seafront has provoked the wrath of the administration for breaching the lease agreement with the government under which it was allowed to come up.
Madhuli, which unfolds over 12,547 square metres of premium seafacing land, is tucked between two coveted residences, Samudra Mahal and CeeJay House, the latter being the property of former aviation minister Praful Patel. Its builder, Crest Hotels, was recently slapped with a showcause notice by Mumbai city district collector Ashwini Joshi for violating the terms under which the land was leased to them in 1986.
Madhuli consists of a 13-storey tower and four bungalows, in addition to a sprawling compound, three gardens and a tennis court. The vast open spaces stand in stark contraction to the rest of Mumbai, where one person gets a little less than a metre of open space, according to the city’s land use survey of 2012.
The action against the society comes after the collector got a complaint from some of its residents last year. Sources in the collectorate said the matter is also being heard in the National Green Tribunal, a fast-track quasi-judicial authority, for disregarding the coastal regulation norms and causing harm to the environment.
Last week, the collector visited the site for inspection, and spotted many contraventions. Owners of the four bungalows near the leased plot have constructed platforms for personal use. A cell phone tower has been erected on the plot without permission. Nearly 1,420 sq m of land has been filled with concrete to be used as a car lot. A330 sq m ramp has been put up, and two rooms have been built.
Society says
While the society’s secretary Bimal Maskara said they did not receive any notice from the collector, chairman Prakash Khubchandani confirmed they got it. “The new collector issued a show-cause notice dated July 12, 2016, to our builder, Crest Hotels Ltd, after joint inspection of the building, bungalows and the foreshore land leased to our builder on May 19, 2016.”
Khubchandani said that since the building was a five-star hotel till 1985, and was converted to a residential building the year after, special permissions were granted by the government, which included allowing the use of the entire land’s FSI as well as the use of the space as parking area.
“Our builder has already applied to the revenue and urban development departments for change of use of a small part of the garden into parking for our members. The government is currently considering the application. The rest of the land is maintained beautifully by us as gardens.”
He said they would reply to the notice after consulting their lawyers. “The notice is an opportunity for us to clarify all the misgivings against the building. We are replying to the notice tomorrow.”
An opulent Worli society facing the seafront has provoked the wrath of the administration for breaching the lease agreement with the government under which it was allowed to come up.
Madhuli, which unfolds over 12,547 square metres of premium seafacing land, is tucked between two coveted residences, Samudra Mahal and CeeJay House, the latter being the property of former aviation minister Praful Patel. Its builder, Crest Hotels, was recently slapped with a showcause notice by Mumbai city district collector Ashwini Joshi for violating the terms under which the land was leased to them in 1986.
The notice, issued on July 12, says the foreshore land (or the shore space) given to the society was supposed to be maintained as green space, but was converted into a car park. According to the lease, the society was only allowed to utilise the floor-space index (FSI) for construction, said the collector, who has now asked the society to explain why the land should not be taken back from them.
Madhuli consists of a 13-storey tower and four bungalows, in addition to a sprawling compound, three gardens and a tennis court. The vast open spaces stand in stark contraction to the rest of Mumbai, where one person gets a little less than a metre of open space, according to the city’s land use survey of 2012.
The action against the society comes after the collector got a complaint from some of its residents last year. Sources in the collectorate said the matter is also being heard in the National Green Tribunal, a fast-track quasi-judicial authority, for disregarding the coastal regulation norms and causing harm to the environment.
Last week, the collector visited the site for inspection, and spotted many contraventions. Owners of the four bungalows near the leased plot have constructed platforms for personal use. A cell phone tower has been erected on the plot without permission. Nearly 1,420 sq m of land has been filled with concrete to be used as a car lot. A330 sq m ramp has been put up, and two rooms have been built.
Society says
While the society’s secretary Bimal Maskara said they did not receive any notice from the collector, chairman Prakash Khubchandani confirmed they got it. “The new collector issued a show-cause notice dated July 12, 2016, to our builder, Crest Hotels Ltd, after joint inspection of the building, bungalows and the foreshore land leased to our builder on May 19, 2016.”
Khubchandani said that since the building was a five-star hotel till 1985, and was converted to a residential building the year after, special permissions were granted by the government, which included allowing the use of the entire land’s FSI as well as the use of the space as parking area.
“Our builder has already applied to the revenue and urban development departments for change of use of a small part of the garden into parking for our members. The government is currently considering the application. The rest of the land is maintained beautifully by us as gardens.”
He said they would reply to the notice after consulting their lawyers. “The notice is an opportunity for us to clarify all the misgivings against the building. We are replying to the notice tomorrow.”
