The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started the demolition process of Gulistan Apartments, Ismail Curtey Road, Pydhonie, Mumbai on September 14, 2022. The first step towards the demolition was disconnecting the electricity and water supply on September 13,2022. The demolition will affect 90 families who bought their homes in the Gulistan Apartments between 2018 and 2019. Gulistan Apartments has houses of various configurations including one room kitchen (1 RK), one bedroom hall kitchen (1 BHK) and two bedroom hall kitchen (2 BHK) that ranges between 125 sq ft and 500 sq ft. BMC will demolish the entire building structure in a period of 2.5 months.
The building has houses of varied dimensions – one-room kitchens, 1BHKs and 2BHKs, measuring between 125 and 500 sq ft. It will be razed by a BMC appointed contractor and brought to ground zero in 2.5 months.
Owing to the illegal status of the building, the Bombay High Court in 2021 instructed BMC to demolish the building. Many C-ward civic officials were suspended by the Maharashtra state government for giving permission to construct the structure. The order was appealed by the residents of the building. Rejecting the appeal of the residents, the Supreme Court upheld the Bombay High Court order in July 2022.
According to a Times Now report, “We pursued this matter up to the Supreme Court, and today we got police force. We are in the process of demolition and have disconnected the electricity and water supply of this illegal building. As this is a sensitive issue, we waited for Ramzan and Ganeshotsav to end before taking action. We even factored in the monsoons. We will bring it to ground zero at the earliest,” says Amol Mesharam, C-Ward designated officer and demolition in charge.
According to a HT report, residents strongly resisted BMC officials when they arrived at 11 am on Sept 14, 2022. The police could evict only three families from the ninth floor. Added Mesharam, “BMC has torn down the flooring on the ninth floor and broken the slabs on the eighth floor. The floor of the terrace has been punctured. The demolition of the entire building is in progress.”
However, people are continuing to reside here. “They are resisting BMC’s action at their own risk and cost. They had approached the high court earlier to protect their homes, but the apex court order stated that they should vacate the premises in a month. They have not followed the order,” said Meshram. He observed that residents are ignoring the fragility of the building and are continuing to stay here. “This concerns their life’s savings. They would prefer to live within the debris. After we removed the electric meter yesterday, they installed a new one. They have got a van with a generator as well,” he said.
