Illegal buildings: BMC To Ask For Evidence For The Claim

If you plan to complain about an illegal building in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will now require evidence to support your claim. The civic body has come out with a new set of guidelines which makes it mandatory to provide proof while submitting a complaint about an illegal structure.

New guidelines

According to BMC, the new set of guidelines have been laid down in the wake of Bombay High Court’s directive. A form will have to be filled along with the complaint. The details to be filled includes name, home and office address, Adhar card number or photo ID proof, reason for the complaint and documents to prove the authenticity of the complaint. Without the supporting documents, the complaint will not be entertained. Evidence need not be in the form of plans or maps. It could be even photographs of the work being carried out.

The idea of introducing this new set of guidelines is to keep the bogus complaints at bay. While there are many genuine complaints about illegal buildings, there are several professional complainants who complain just to extort money from the builders. There were other bogus complaints where people living in one locality were giving complaints about ‘illegal buildings’ in a totally different locality. While residents counter-attack the BMC’s inefficiency to find evidence, the new regulations will help in some way to reduce the number of bogus complaints the civic body receives.

In case the designated officer who is in-charge of monitoring the illegal constructions in that ward fails to act upon a complaint within 30 working days, the circular states that the matter will be taken up by the zonal grievance redressal committee.

Illegal structures in Mumbai

Mumbai sees a large a number of illegal constructions. There are several builders in Mumbai who violate the building laws by constructing buildings taller than allowed height, build more than the allowed FSI or illegally utilize the mandatory open spaces. There are several other buildings which haven’t received an occupation certificate (OC), yet people were residing there. These buildings too are considered illegal. There are about 6,880 buildings in Mumbai that don’t have an OC.