BMC begins demolition of Campa Cola society: 10 things you need to know

The case of evicting some residents of Campa Cola housing colony is back in focus with them refusing to move out, locking themselves in the compound after  civic and police officials arrived for demolishing the illegal floors in Mumbai’s plush Worli. The Supreme Court had set November 11 deadline to vacate the flats. The BMC today broke open the gates of the compound and began the demolition process by forcing the residents to evict the illegal flats.

Here is all you need to know about the standoff between the residents and BMC

1. The residents of the Campa Cola compound have been waging a long legal battle since 2005 when they first went to court for water connection and regularisation and the court ordered the then municipal commissioner to take time-bound action on the case. The municipal commissioner instead of taking action against the builders, served demolition notices to about 100 flats above the fifth floor. The builders of the society - PSB Construction, Yusuf Patel and BK Gupta - were granted permission to construct the residential towers of not more than five floors.They, however, went ahead and flouted the norms by constructing 35 illegal floors.

2.  The apartments were constructed on land leased to Pure Drinks Ltd in 1955, which was permitted by BMC in 1980 to develop for residential purpose. However, without getting the plans approved, Pure Drink along with the builders erected seven buildings, two of which were high-rise buildings of 17 and 20 floors. During the construction period, authorities issued notices to the builders to stop work.The builders were fined and they paid the penalty and resumed work. After the construction was completed nobody prevented buyers from occupying the apartments. The residents have claimed that they were not aware of these violations and thought they would get occupation certificates in due course.

“We found out about the absence of an occupation certificate and the unauthorised construction only in 1999 when we decided to get water connection for the buildings,” said Nandini Mehta, a resident who is spearheading the protests. Mehta and her husband own a flat each, both of which have been termed as illegal.

3. The residents, however, lost the case in the High Court in 2011 and subsequently in the Supreme Court in February 2013 when it refused to regularise the structure. The BMC then issued a demolition notice on April 27 asking the occupants of the illegal flats to vacate within 48 hours. However, Supreme Court intervention ensured that the residents got a five month window to vacate their houses. The society is now locked in a stand-off between BMC officials and the residents after the municipal authorities visited the area to demolish the illegal houses in the society after the Supreme Court deadline ended on Monday. On 1 October, the Supreme Court had ordered the residents of over 90 illegal flats to vacate their houses by November 11.

4. Even though their long and difficult fight has won wide political support,  the opposition Shiv Sena which heads the civic body and the ruling Congress are both cautious about skirting court orders. Families living in the compound had pinned their hopes on Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan stepping in and saving their homes by passing an ordinance that would regularise the flats. However, so far the chief minister has not shown any sighs of relenting and accepting the demands of the residents as he does not want to go against the legal opinion of the advocate general.

5.On Tuesday, over 100 families locked the gates of the compound and barricaded themselves to physically block the demolition squad. The residents wore ‘Save Campa Cola’ badges through the day, closed the two main gates and squatted in protest.  A meeting of Campa Cola residents, the police and civic body officials was held on Tuesday as a last-ditch effort to break the impasse. But the participants failed to hammer out a solution. By afternoon the police had to deploy two bulldozers to make their way in but residents, including politicans like Makrand Narvekar and MLA Mangal Lodha, blocked the way, following which they were taken into preventive custody by the police. The politicians and four residents were detained but no case was lodged against them. They were let off by evening.

6. Meanwhile,  Kamal Parikh (63), Vinaychand Jerawat (67) and Surendra Daga (57) have been on hunger strike for the past nine days. Kapoorchand Jain (67) had to withdraw his fast after he was admitted to Bhatia hospital on the fifth day. A doctor, who is also a resident of the compound, said, “The condition of the fasting residents is bad. They are suffering of dehydration and weight-loss.” The three residents refuse to break their fast until the CM saves their homes.   “If our homes were illegal, why did BMC collect property tax from us? We will ensure that the BMC pays back our money,” said Nandini Mehta, a resident.

7. The BMC disconnected electricity supply to only eight flats that were already vacated by residents. It has also made no attempt to evict residents from the rest of the illegal houses. Civic officials continued demolition work today and broke open the compound gate this morning. Media reports said some residents were lathi charged as well.

8. The residents have been aggressively campaigning against the demolition order on Facebook and Twitter but the movement has not offered any respite to the residents. The civic body plans to complete the demolition of internal walls and disconnection of electricity and water connections over the next two months. Thereafter, an expert private company will carry out the demolition of the main beams, columns and floors of the buildings.

9.   According to a report in the Hindustan Times , the civic body is now considering the possibility of filing a contempt of court petition in SC against Campa Cola residents for violating their undertakings. Additional municipal commissioner Mohan Adtani told HT that “The Supreme Court’s order is clear.We will wait for another one to two days for residents to vacate and allow the demolition of the illegal flats. If the resistance to vacate continues, we will consider such an action.”

10. Meanwhile, Fali Nariman, Senior Counsel of Supreme Court, has said that there was no legal impediment in the way of the state government to issue an appropriately worded Ordinance before the deadline arrives for demolition. Yesterday, Union Minister and south Mumbai MP Milind Deora said he has appealed to the residents to cooperate with the agencies. “My duty is to represent them (residents). I don’t want to give them false hope. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has been in favour of supporting residents. He understands the humanitarian aspect involved. But he also knows that there are legalities involved,” Deora said. Deora spoke of “collusion” between builders and local officials which led to the flouting of norms. “It is important to ensure that the builders don’t go unpunished,” he said.