Action in Harsiddhi case as per high court order: Prithviraj Chavan

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has assured of action as per the directives of Bombay high court in the controversial Harsiddhi Heights at Worli for allegedly violating the security norms.   

The state government admitted that the urban development department had received complaint against the construction of the building which is just 57 metres away from the naval base of INS Strata. The government admitted that the laid norms mandate that construction cannot be undertaken within 300 metres of the naval base. Moreover, it is mandatory to get the no objection certificate from the navy.  

The matter was raised in the state legislature assembly last week by senior BJP leader Pandurang Phundkar on inordinate delay in taking action Harsiddhi Heights. The chief minister in the written reply stated, “The government was awaiting the clear directives from the high court. The court has taken cognisance of the writ petition filed on the issue.”

The opposition leader demanded to know how the developers managed to complete the 18-storey construction even after the notice was served against them by the state urban development ministry.

The chief minister explained that urban development department had issued a stop work notice to the developers in 2008 following objections raised by the western naval command which had not issued the clearance certificate. The work was undertaken through the slum redevelopment project under the urban development ministry.

Last week, the matter related to Harsiddhi Heights was also raised in the parliament. Union defence minister AK Antony has assured to probe the matter and take necessary action against the guilty.