Society's claim that it had all requisite clearances from the ministry of environment and forest, former civic chief Jairaj Phatak admitted that the tower did not have Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance.
In a severe blow to the claim by Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society that it had all requisite clearances from the ministry of environment and forest, former civic chief Jairaj Phatak admitted that the tower had no Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance.
Phatak, on Thursday, deposed in front of the two-member commission set up to probe the alleged Adarsh scam.
Originally meant to be a six-storey building to house Kargil war heroes and widows, Adarsh society in Colaba was converted into a 31-storey tower. The society has also been accused of violating environmental norms.
Phatak is currently posted as secretary of the statutory development board. His son Kanishka owns a flat in Adarsh society. It is alleged that Phatak had allowed the increase in the height of the structure from 97m to 103m on September 1, 2007, without referring to the civic high-rise committee.
On Thursday, when the commission asked Phatak if Adarsh ‘did not have any clearance from the MoEF’, he replied: “Yes. It is true.”
Earlier, in another statement, Phatak had said that instead of the society applying for a green clearance, the state should have obtained a no-objection certificate from the ministry. This, he said, was because “no party obtaining the land would like to pay Rs10 crore for green clearance unless it is sure that it is cleared from the CRZ angle”.
This could be an addition to the bizarre statements made by Phatak. On Wednesday, he had said that he found out about the reclamation of the plot in question from current municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya “during a morning walk and after reading Sharada Dwivedi’s Bombay — The Cities Within”.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}