A petition challenging the construction of a 12-floor sea-facing residential tower at Rocky Hill meant to house judges of the Bombay HC has been filed in the HC.
Say sea-facing building violates far too many rules
MUMBAI: A petition challenging the construction of a 12-floor sea-facing residential tower at Rocky Hill, Walkeshwar, meant to house judges of the Bombay High Court has been filed in the HC.
The petitioners, residents of two housing societies adjoining the Rocky Hill Complex, have alleged grave irregularities and violations on part of the state government and the BMC in allowing the construction of the judges’ quarters.
They have also sought an explanation as to why World Bank funds are being used for the Rs 145.18 crore project. The petition, which has urged the court to halt construction, is likely to be heard on Friday.
The petitioners include residents of New Shri Sagar cooperative housing society (NSSCHS), Jogani cooperative housing society and Madhav Pittie, a resident of Suket bungalow. They have alleged that the proposed sea-facing construction violates coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms, the environmental protection act as well as heritage regulations. The plot falls in the CRZ (II) zone.
Questioning the rationale of using World Bank funds for the project, the petition alleges, “Real facts have been suppressed before the WB as it does not finance any project which is for the benefit of any group or individual.”
The petition has also sought an explanation as to why this has been listed as a BOT (build, operate and transfer) project if it is meant for housing serving HC judges.
Information sought under the RTI Act by NSSCHS from the BMC’s world bank project division showed that the chief justice of the HC gave clearance for the plan on September 24, 2007. The project entails 35 quarters in the 12-storey building.
The BMC stated that the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) too has given its approval to the proposed construction.
However, the minutes of the MHCC meeting held on November 17, 1999, reveal that the MHCC had approved the construction of three low-rise (ground plus three floors) and two relatively high-rise buildings on the condition that they would “not be incongruent with the existing development in the vicinity”.
The plot already has two ground-plus-two-storey structures used to house HC judges. The petition states that though the term ‘relatively high-rise’ was left undefined, does a 12-storey tower fit that terminology.
The petitioners have also placed on record a 2006 letter of the prothonotary and senior master of the HC stating that it was tacitly agreed earlier that construction of the judges’ quarters can be taken up only after the proposed road from Bhagwan Indrajit Road to the Rocky Hill Complex is completed and functional.
Though the road is incomplete, the government has begun construction of the quarters. It has sought to bypass the several laws and rules in the name of carrying out the construction for HC judges, the petition alleges.
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