Government officials giving NOC to tall buildings near airport to face heat

The Bombay high court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Union government and asked them to initiate an enquiry against officials who are giving NOCs to construct buildings beyond the prescribed height limit near the airport. The HC also directed the government to take stern action against the errant officials.

The HC also said that a zero tolerance policy should be adopted against constructions, which are an obstacle in the flight path. A division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Swapana Joshi was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Yashwant Shenoy, who sought the demolition of all structures that come between the flight path and runway. Meanwhile, the developer of one Sunita building filed an application and requested for a stay on the demolition of three of its floors.

The developer wanted a hearing from appropriate authorities before demolishing its fourth floor, but the AAI has opposed this saying DGCA and AAI officials of the building proposal department had heard the developer but found out that the height of the building was above the permissible limit.

After hearing this, the court rejected their application, saying, “The developer had endangered the life of not only those who travel by flights but also of the occupants of the building. The developer committed fraud by misrepresenting facts before the authorities concerned and procured the NOC”.

The petitioner alleged that AAI officials, BMC officials and developers are connected to each other and collude with each other to construct buildings near the vicinity of the airport and cheat buyers in the process.