(Shaina NC is a spokesperson for the BJP. She was present at the Campa Cola Society in Mumbai on Friday when officials from the municipal corporation tried to disconnect the power and water supply to nearly 102 flats that have been declared illegal. The Supreme Court has ordered that the flats be demolished after the residents are moved out.)There are over one lakh buildings in Mumbai which do not have an occupational certificate. There are nearly 56,000 buildings which are exactly like the Campa Cola story. So my question to the state government is, that if you are going to demolish Campa Cola then why not the others? Why is only the Campa Cola society being targeted?
In 1982, you had three fraudulent builders who started the construction of Campa Cola. No action has been taken against these three; no action was taken against the errant BMC officers of the time. So why is it that the residents are the only victims in the case?
We have a political leader called Prithviraj Chavan, who all party delegations have met five times. And as chief minister, we have requested him to use his discretionary power, his statuary power in a case like this on humanitarian grounds. There have been over six senior citizens who have already lost their lives and many more to go.
We all know how political clout makes policies to woo its vote bank - take the slum cut-off date which was in 1995 and which was changed to 2000. If you can make these amendments, why can't you make the amendments when the residents are willing to forfeit some part of the area of each flat that had been declared illegal and they are willing to pay a penalty.
I think there are many fundamental questions which come up. One is clearly that if you are punishing one, punish all. If you are going to target only the residents, what happens to the errant officials, the BMC officials and the builders who have got away scott-free?
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.