Demolition of illegal commercial structures begins, residents worry as chawls next

MUMBAI: Residents of Razzak Chawl are worried about their future after the BMC initiated a demolition drive on Friday against unauthorized commercial structures constructed by former corporator and now murder accused Razzak Khan. The BMC demolished 11 structures on Friday, including a marriage hall in the Chandu Studio Compound at Kalina.
Khan had encroached upon nearly two acres of land in Kalina, on which he had constructed several commercial and residential chawls and rented them out.One of his tenants included anti-encroachment activist Bhupendra Vira, whose murder Razzak and his youngest son now stand accused of.
Vira owned a godown since the 1970s in the nearby studio compound, which Khan grabbed from him in 2010 claiming he owned the compound. It prompted Vira to file a series of RTI applications through which he came to know that Khan was not the landowner but had encroached upon all the property. Vira then complained to the Lokayukta, who asked the BMC to act against the unauthorized structures on the encroached land. Police believe the civic notices for demolition, issued to several structures built by Razzak, may have prompted Vira’s murder.
On Friday, BMC officials said they will act against the chawls once the unauthorized commercial structures in the studio compound are demolished. Civic officials said they will take action against unauthorized structures after verifying their details, adding the chawls are not protected under slum protection laws.
Chawl residents said they have lived there for more than four decades and were shocked by the recent development. On receiving the demolition notices from the BMC, they rushed to political leaders and lawyers to find ways to protect their structures.
The BMC has asked residents to produce documents to verify if they were constructed before 1961. However, most residents claim they lost their documents during the 2005 deluge, when Kalina was one of the worst affected areas. Worried residents said they had bought the houses from Khan decades ago believing them to be legal as they had electricity and municipal water supply.
“We never thought these houses are unauthorized. My grandparents bought a chawl room from Khan decades ago. They lost their documents during the 2005 flooding like many others. Now all of a sudden, the BMC is sending us demolition notices and asking us to produce old documents. My aunt who now lives there is worried about the next course of action,” said a woman.
IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y P Singh stated the BMC can’t remove structures constructed up to 1994. He said, “All structures which exist before 1961 are deemed to be legal. However, structures constructed even between 1961-94 can’t be demolished because till that year there was a seven-year limit to act against illegal structures, under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act. The government removed the seven-year provision from the MRTP Act only after 1994. Residents also have other options to protect their old structures.”