Such documents are then used as leverage by the persons responsible for the illegalities to silence any voices raised against them, and to thwart any complaints
Junior and mid-level civic officials are an important cog in the corruption system, who open the doors for illegal constructions and structural alterations in buildings across the city. Documents that are required to carry out such illegal construction are often ‘managed’ from the municipal corporation, and are issued on the sly by corrupt civic officers who, in many instances, do not even have the sanctioning authority to give such clearances.
Such documents are then used as leverage by the persons responsible for the illegalities to silence any voices raised against them, and to thwart any complaints.
In the wake of the Sai Siddhi building collapse, documents have come to light which indicate that such a system was at play in case of irregularities in Ghatkopar East and West, which fall under the BMC’s N-ward.
On April 4 this year, former N-ward Executive Engineer Sudhanshu Dwivedi, who was holding additional charge as Assistant Municipal Commissioner, was suspended by Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta. According to sources, he was suspended after former Congress corporator Pravin Chheda and MLA and Housing Minister Prakash Mehta took up the matter of ‘bogus’ court papers pertaining to construction on a plot at Sainath Nagar that was reserved as a recreational ground in Ghatkopar, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
An advocate on condition of anonymity said, “Getting permissions for construction or demolition in Ghatkopar is just not possible by simply following the laid down procedure. In case of Sunil Shitap, he was in cahoots with the BMC’s legal department and its buildings & factory (B&F) department. He used to manage bogus documents from them, on the basis of which he got court orders.”
In case of the Sainath Nagar plot, documents accessed by DNA show that permissions for construction on the plot were given by the “Designated Officer, Assistant Engineer (B&F- II, N-ward)”. In case of N-ward, Balkrushna Sale is the Designated officer in the B&F department. A letter was issued by this officer stating that a request for reconstruction on the plot had been considered. The letter added that this was “By direction of Asst. Commissioner ‘N’-ward”. However, three senior civic officials confirmed that, any assistant engineer does not have the power to grant permissions for construction. Any clearance granted for construction can only be issued by the BMC’s Building Proposals department.
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