MCGM Circular endangers Mumbai citizens fighting land grabbers
23 March 2016, Mumbai: While browsing through my old emails, I found the following letter drafted by some of my fellow activists to the powers-that-be a few years back, when Prithviraj Chavan was Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and Sitaram Kunte was the Municipal Commissioner. Methinks this letter is as relevant today as when it was written, back in December 2013. Activist friends like Abbaas Rizvi, who have been working to thwart the encroachment mafias in Mumbai, tell me that the issues that this letter points out are still as bad as ever.
And so, I am reproducing this letter here for everyone to read, and hopefully to copy-paste onto their own letterhead, sign and send to the Chief Minister and our civic bosses.
To
- Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mantralaya
- Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, Mantralaya
- Principal Secretary-I, Urban Development Dept
- Municipal Commissioner, BMC Head Office, Mahapalika Marg.
Sub- (A) Fraudulent MCGM Circular (No. AC/RE/804
dated 04/06/2013 ) endangers the life and physical safety of citizens and is designed to
sabotage citizens’ efforts to fight illegal constructions in Greater Mumbai
(B) Circular
is contrary to the mandate of the Hon'ble Bombay High Court (In WP No. 2950 of 2012).
(C) Circular
is an attempt to sabotage the newly inserted jail and fine provisions in the
MCGM Act and the MRTP Act for not acting on the complaints against illegal
constructions
Dear Sirs,
1)
A Circular bearing No. AC/RE/804
dated 04/06/2013 was issued by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai on
the subject of “Procedural Guidelines for conduct of business of
Zonal level Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) in MCGM”. We attach herewith the said 2013 Circular.
The said Circular purports to be in pursuance of Hon'ble Bombay High Court directions
in WP No. 2950 of 2012 which directed the BMC to set up proper mechanism for
redressal of grievances pertaining to illegal constructions. This fraudulent MCGM Circular endangers the
life and physical safety of well meaning citizens/NGOs and effectively
sabotages citizens’ efforts to fight illegal constructions. Further, the said
Circular is contrary to the mandate of Hon'ble Bombay High Court. This
Circular has been instigated by the builder lobby in connivance with the
authorities to protect unauthorised constructions, additions and modifications
in violation of approved plans and the DCR. The Order of the High Court is
deliberately distorted and manipulated to protect the interests of the builder
lobby indulging in illegal constructions in connivance with the authorities and
kill all complaints pertaining to illegal constructions. The Circular is an attempt to sabotage the newly
inserted jail and fine provisions in the
MCGM Act and the MRTP Act for not acting on the complaints against illegal
constructions. The MCGM is shooting the said fraudulent Circular from
the shoulders of the Hon’ble High Court by distorting its Order. We attach
herewith the Order of the Bombay High Court.
2)
In its Judgement dated 10th
December, 2012 in the matter of the Writ Petition No. 2950 of 2012 (Lodging No.
2339 of 2012 -
Mazhar Hussain V/s Mumbai Municipal Corporation & Ors.) the Hon’ble Bombay High Court after disposing
of the grievance of the Petitioner, has expressed its concern that:
QUOTE
We may place on
record that similar grievances have been made in large number of matters, in
which, the court is required to pass similar orders in at least couple of
matters everyday against the Corporation. It would be appropriate that
Corporation evolves some internal correctional mechanism
(emphasis provided) which would bring quietus to at least some of the
complaints one way or the other. If such complaint is received by the official
who is authorised to take decision thereon, he is expected to proceed in the
matter in accordance with law expeditiously in any case within a reasonable
time and not to keep the complaint pending for over two years as has happened
in the present case.
We hope and
trust that the Commissioner will examine this aspect of the matter and issue directions and provide a proper
mechanism for redressal of such grievances at different level across the
Corporation.
UNQUOTE
From the above
observations of the High Court it is very clear that as per the High Court
direction, MCGM was mandated to evolve some
internal correctional mechanism for expeditious tackling of complaints from
the public and for that matter the Commissioner was required to issue direction
and provide proper internal mechanism to be followed at all levels across the
Corporation. In other words, the High Court has sought setting up of an internal mechanism within the Corporation
so that all complaints from the public in whatever form can be tackled
by it in a systematic and expeditious way.
3)
With the Corporation, being the planning and the regulatory
authority in the city of Mumbai, having
full internal infrastructure, manpower resources, full information and the
records as regards the approved plans, status of approvals of each stage of the
construction in respect of all under construction buildings, whether IOD/CC
granted, whether occupation certificate granted, the city survey numbers of the
plots, etc., is in the eminent position to respond to and tackle each and every
complaint regarding unauthorised constructions of all kinds on its own on mere
receipt of a simple complaint - not to mention the Corporation’s statutory
obligation to suo moto detect and tackle all illegal and unauthorized
constructions in the city.
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| Image: http://tinyurl.com/Mumbai-Land-Grab-2 |
4)
However, contrary to and in violation of the aforesaid
observations and the mandate of the High Court in the said Writ Petition, in
the said Circular the Corporation has passed on
the entire burden of proving unauthorised construction on to the complainant
himself rather than investigating the same through its own means. A Complaint format/procedure is deliberately
created (which was never envisaged by the High Court) to discourage citizens
from filing Complaints.
5)
The following
amendments to Acts were carried out and Circulars issued-
i)
The BMC
Act/MRTP Act were inter alia amended on 13th March, 2012 to appoint Designated
Officers (DO) to tackle illegal constructions, modifications etc. The Amending
Act stipulates punishment (jail and fine) for failure to take action.
ii)
On 4/4/2013,
BMC issued a Circular appointing 65 DOs.
iii)
A Circular
dated 4/6/2013 was issued by the Municipal Corporation which lays down procedural guidelines for
conduct of business of Zonal level Grievances Redressal Committee (GRC) in
MCGM.
6) The said Circular seeks to introduce a
Complaint format and procedure which is summarized below-
a) The Complainant is required to file Complaint
in prescribed "Form A" to the DO of the ward with documentary proof
which includes full information like complete details of the unauthorised work
such as nature of work, number of unauthorised floors/rooms with approx area,
name of owner of structure, relation with the owner and reasons for filing
Complaint, etc. and also evidence on the basis of which said construction is
illegal/unauthorized and copy of photo identity proof. If no documents/proofs
are submitted, the Complaint is rejected summarily.
b) Further, the Complainant can file Complaint
against the DO in prescribed "Form B" for failure to initiate action.
c) Subsequently, in the hearing of Zonal level
Grievances Redressal Committee, "to follow the principles of natural
justice, owners/occupiers against whom the Complaint/notice is
made/issued, may be called to attend the hearing".
7) We recently received an anonymous letter on
rampant illegal constructions in areas like Pydhonie, Dongri, Bhendi Bazaar,
Nagpada, JJ Marg, Madanpura, etc., where Mumbai's notorious underworld is
actively involved in connivance with the authorities. The said letter has
referred to about 10 specific cases of illegal constructions. Incidentally,
none of the proposed buildings have displayed City Survey numbers at the site
to avoid scrutiny under the RTI Act. Should we investigate the above cases
and/or file Complaints in these cases of illegal constructions where the
notorious underworld is involved and endanger our lives in view of recent June
2013 Circular which is a threat to citizen's life? Recently, it was reported in
the media that an activist was killed in Bhiwandi for complaining against
illegal construction.
8) This Circular is a threat to the life of the
complainants who file complaints against illegal constructions in public
interest without being personally affected. Honest citizens are now forced to
meet and face the lawbreakers/builder mafia/underworld in the GRC hearing which
exposes them to threats, harassment and murder or even settlement. This
Circular effectively puts the onus of conducting an investigation onto the
citizens who are not technically qualified nor do they have in depth knowledge
of building rules and legal procedures rather than the officials who are on the
payroll of the MCGM and who are very often colluding with the lawbreakers.
9) An ordinary citizen can only report the
activity of illegal construction happening in the area. Such ordinary citizens
are not expected to file RTI applications (after searching for City Survey
numbers), peruse building files and further investigate and file complaints in
detail. Public spirited citizens/NGOs file complaints against illegal constructions
in some detail after perusing building files under the RTI Act in the interest
of the city and subsequently it is the duty of the Building Proposals dept and
local Building departments (both of whom are the most corrupt) for initiating
appropriate measures against unauthorised building activities including
encroachments, change of user, etc which have become a threat to planned
development of the city. A citizen cannot or is not permitted to enter the
premises or the building/land where the illegal construction is going on and it
would be impossible for him to obtain and furnish the detailed information as
per the said prescribed Forms.
10)
It is pertinent to note that MCGM has not
created any internal
correctional mechanism as mandated by the High Court. There is no
set up to effectively tackle mushrooming illegal constructions. This is evident
from our experience with regard to persistent complaints concerning rampant and
gross violations of the DCR in about 50 buildings/projects in JVPD Scheme.
There was absolutely no action despite meetings with officials of K West
Municipal Ward with evidence in specific cases and the developers carried on
their illegal activities without any fear of law. There is only one case of action that too due
to High Court intervention after repeated complaints by a citizen. This despite
the fact that an internal report of MCGM itself states that "most of JVPD
plot owners blatantly misused the floor space index (FSI) allowed for
individual plots. The local ward office should be immediately directed to take
action against the unauthorized constructions and submit a report within three
months". Despite this report, there is not a single case of action against
illegal constructions in JVPD either departmentally or on the basis of
Complaints (either before or after the said Circular).
11)
In view of the seriousness of the matter, we request your goodself
to direct the Municipal Commissioner to do the following-
a) The said fraudulent MCGM Circular should be
urgently revoked/cancelled as it has the potential to discourage
whistle-blowers, shield corrupt officers, and encourage builder mafia to
indulge in greater illegal constructions with impunity which will destroy the
great city of Mumbai.
b)
MCGM should
create internal
correctional mechanism as mandated by the High Court to effectively tackle the
menace of illegal constructions in Mumbai
Yours truly,
Name:
Address:
Contact No. and Email id:
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