Mumbai:
The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to set up special force in 12 weeks to deal with cases connected to unauthorised and illegal construction in the state.
The court order came during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against illegal construction by an NGO called Harit Vasai Sanrakshan Samiti in 2007. The court also ordered the government to set up special courts to handle illegal construction cases.
The order comes in the backdrop of several building collapses in and around Mumbai, especially in Thane.
In April this year, more than 70 people died in a building collapse in Lucky Compound in Mumbra. The building had been constructed illegally in two months, and sub-standard material was used, said officials. Homes and offices had been set up within the building. An eighth floor was under construction when the building collapsed.
In June this year, Altaf Mansion collapsed in Mahim killing 10 people. Advocate Rizwan Merchant, who lost three members of the family in the collapse, had written to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation ward office about illegal alterations in the building.
In September, a five-storey building came crashing down early in the morning at Dockyard Road killing 61 people. The building was listed for major repairs but those repairs had not been carried out.