Demolition at Kangana Ranaut's bungalow: Activists slam BMC for 'selective' action against illegal construction

Mumbai: Activists criticized the demolition of `illegal’ alterations at actor Kangana Ranaut’s bungalow here on Wednesday, saying there are thousands of other illegal structures but the civic body turns a blind eye to them. The Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday undertook demolition of alleged illegal alterations at Ranaut’s bungalow at Pali Hill before the Bombay High Court stayed the action. Godfrey Pimenta, lawyer and trustee of the NGO Watchdog Foundation, said the BMC should have given at least 48 hours to the actor to reply to its notice, though not seven days’ time as asked by her lawyer. “There are thousands of illegal structures in the city. The law should be applied equally to all the citizens. The action shouldn’t be selective,” he said. Subhash Gupta, another activist, said had the BMC shown such alacrity in removing illegal slums, Mumbai would not have become so “unkempt”. “Thousands of Bangladeshi nationals are staying in illegal 3-4-storey slums a stone’s throw away from Kalanagar (where Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray lives),” he said. “Hasn’t (the BMC) seen those?” he asked. Activist Jitendra Gupta claimed that the BMC committed a contempt of the Bombay High Court by violating its order in another matter where it had asked the civic body not to carry out demolitions till September in view of the coronavirus pandemic. “Political parties take the liberty to behave like organised gangs against individuals whenever anyone behaves against their wishes,” Gupta said. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana took potshots at Ranaut for comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and calling the city police “mafia”. It is a sign of a “deteriorated mindset” to compare Mumbai to PoK and dub the city’s police as mafia, it said. The people of Maharashtra feel that such insult of the city is tantamount to “treason”, the Sena mouthpiece added. “But the 106 martyrs (those killed during the agitation for a unified state of Maharashtra in the 1950s) must be shedding tears when the nationalist Modi government’s home ministry provides protection to those who commit such an offence,” the Sena said. “Maharashtra is angry, but the BJP is supporting those who are insulting Mumbai and the state’s chief minister,” the Shiv Sena alleged.