January 17, 2024: The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) to construct a 40-storey residential building near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
A division bench consisting of Justices Gautam Patel and Kamal Khata on January 10, 2024 dismissed the Mhada petition.
Mhada had filed the petition after the union ministry of civil aviation denied permission to build the residential project in December 2021, citing height restrictions for a residential building near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
While the maximum permissible height is 58.48 m, the Mhada had proposed a building of a 115.54 m (around 40 floors) with 560 units for middle or low-income housing. After appealing to the appellate authority, the permission for a height of 96.68 m was granted.
According to the Bombay High Court, aviation safety has nothing to do at all with the developer’s identity and norms can’t be relaxed only because the developer is a public authority.
The court added that if any relaxation is granted to the MHADA, then the same relaxation would be expected by other private developers too.
The Airport Authority of India follows internationally mandated aviation safety standards and norms and specifies height restrictions for real estate development in areas around the airport.
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