State chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad passed the order on June 21 on the basis of two RTI applications filed by Mankhurd Link Road resident Iqbal Khan.
The State Information Commission (SIC) has directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to formulate and disburse clear instructions to all its officers regarding illegal constructions in the city – be it on the government or private land.
The order was given after some Right To Information (RTI) applicants pointed out that the BMC officials often denied information on authorised and unauthorised construction, stating that those locations didn't fall in their jurisdiction. The rules, however, clearly state that the BMC is in charge of illegal constructions in the city.
State chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad passed the order on June 21 on the basis of two RTI applications filed by Mankhurd Link Road resident Iqbal Khan. In his application, Khan had sought information regarding two construction sites in the Mankhurd area. He sought to know the details of certain shops that were coming up.
"Since a number of illegal constructions take place all the time, I wanted to know if these shops were authorised or not," said Khan, who runs a public toilet and works as a social worker. The application were sent to the BMC but the public information officer (PIO) did not provide any information.
"In response, the PIO stated that the information was not available," said Khan. When the first appellate authority did not provide any information, he filed a second appeal. During the second appeal hearing, the commission ordered strict action to be taken against the first appellate authority for neither attending the hearing nor informing the commission about being absent.
In his order, Gaikwad stated that illegal or otherwise, any construction in the city limits was BMC's responsibility. It further said that often, officials were in cahoots with those involved in illegal construction, and asked the municipal commissioner to issue clear directives to all their officers in such cases.
"A directive by a judicial body is a directive. What can I say about it," said municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.
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