Within hours of dna reporting about the failure of the BMC’s legal department to get the stay order on the demolition of a Dahisar school building vacated, the civic administration swung into action, with municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte ordering a probe into the lapses.
Additional municipal commissioner in charge of western suburbs Manisha Mhaiskar said the inquiry will ascertain how the five-storey structure was allowed to come up on a plot reserved for a public playground.
Senior legal department officials have also asked for an explanation from their staff for not getting the stay vacated even after more than a year. The disputed structure – Lexicon Global School and Matruchaya College of Commerce and Science – has come up on a 1745-sq mt plot on Shivaji Complex Road No. 2, Dahisar (East).
Uday Kedar, law officer of BMC, said, “I learnt about this case through dna this morning and immediately asked for the details. I want to know why the stay granted by the Dindoshi civil court has was not vacated for so long.”
The BMC had in October 2012 served a demolition order on Lexicon on the grounds that the building plans were not approved by it. Following this, Smt GA Lalani education trust, which runs the school, got a stay order.
Law officials attributed the delay to the backlog of other cases. “Not a single hearing has taken place till date,” said an official. The law department has assured that the matter will be pursued closely to get the court ban lifted.
Interestingly, the then assistant commissioner Anand Wagralkar, who is now deputy municipal commissioner for removal of encroachment, had given an NOC to run the school in a letter dated January 7, 2002. A copy of the letter is with dna.
In response to repeated calls and Smses from dna, Wagralkar messaged saying he was “busy in a meeting”. Wagralkar’s controversial move will now be covered by the inquiry ordered by Kunte.
A school official said considering that 3,200 students are studying in the twin institutions, the BMC should regularise the structure by changing the reservation of the plot.
The local ward office had in October 2012 served a demolition notice on Lexicon Global School and Matruchhaya College of Commerce and Science for building its five-storey structure on a plot reserved for a playground. The trust, which runs the school, approached the Dindoshi civil court and got a stay on the demolition.
Disputed structure
Lexicon Global School and Matruchaya College of Commerce and Science (in pic) has come up on a 1745-sq mt plot on Shivaji Complex Road No. 2, Dahisar (East). In October 2012, the BMC served it a demolition order on the grounds that the building plans were not approved by it.
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