Faced With Demolition, Mumbai Homeowners Prepare for Legal Battle

Served with DGCA notice, residents in over 70 Mumbai buildings prepare to fight it out in court.

sixty-one-year-old Auna Bijoor’s building has been served a notice by DGCA.

(Photo: The Quint)

Seventy-four-year-old Ratnaprabha Joshi has been spending sleepless nights for a month now. Ever since she received a notice from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in June, informing her of an impending partial demolition of her building in 60 days’ time, the retired yoga teacher constantly fears she will lose her home.

Ratnaprabha Joshi taking a break from work at her home.(Photo: The Quint)

“We have not violated any rules. We have No Objection Certificates and our building comes under the permissible height. But even then we have received the notice. I can’t sleep thinking about losing our homes. Ours is a two-storey building, everyone is like a family member here. If an entire floor is demolished, what do we do? 

Ratnaprabha Joshi, Resident at Sadhna building in Santacruz 

Over 500 families living around Ratnaprabha’s Santacruz area, most of them senior citizens, could become homeless by the end of this month. Reason – a portion of their buildings are allegedly causing an obstacle for flights in landings and take offs from the Mumbai Airport.

Representatives of over 70 buildings around the Mumbai airport have received notices demanding they demolish anywhere between 1 to 6 metres of their respective buildings by the end of July. With some of these buildings over fifty-years-old, residents fear this would cause the entire structure to become unstable. What’s more, most of the old buildings constructed before 1978 have all the necessary clearances from the Airports Authority of India.

Fifty-two-year-old Preeti Mehta’s building, Jeevan Jyot, has been served a notice despite having AAI clearances.(Photo: The Quint)

“We purchased our flat from a previous owner. The building is fifty-two-years-old. After we purchased the flat, we found out that this area is part of the official town planning scheme of the Govt. Thus, it was built by people who got together and invested their own funds in it. Since this house becomes their asset for life, all the required certifications – like the occupancy certificates, building completion certificates – are all in place. You must understand that this is where we have to finish our lives and pass on to our children. Therefore, we would not risk not having documents” said fifty-two-year-old Preeti Mehta, a teacher.

It all started after advocate Yashwant Shenoy filed a petition in the Bombay High Court in 2014 against buildings causing an obstacle for flights at the Mumbai airport. Following a reply filed by the Airports Authorities of India, MIAL and the DGCA, the High Court asked the DGCA for a detailed list of such buildings. The DGCA then submitted a list mentioning over 427 obstacles noted as per their survey in their reply in 2016. While a few of these buildings had received no NOC, most had allegedly flouted norms. According to petitioner Yashwant Shenoy, the NOCs issued after 2010 to most of the buildings were mostly fraudulent.

“The issue of aviation safety is human in nature for the residents occupying this building, but for the authorities that allowed these buildings to come up, it is corruption. If at all the question is asked, ‘Who compromised aviation safety?' then the answer will be the state. The DGCA failed, the Airport Authorities failed, the Ministry of Civil Aviation failed, the private player called MIAL failed and when all of them fail together, there is only one indication, that there is a collusion,” said petitioner Yashwant Shenoy.

S Mangala, DGM (Aviation Safety), WR, AAI has been a whistleblower in the case.(Photo Courtesy: S Mangala)

Backing Yashwant Shenoy’s claims, S Mangala, DGM (Aviation safety), WR, AAI, says she refused to sign NOCs for illegal heights for 11 sites very close to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport's main runway in 2011.

“From January to June 2011, I had refused to sign NOCs for illegal heights for 11 sites very close to CSIA’s main runway. On 6 June 2011, my junior officer signed all of them during the night after I had left for home. In the lists given by MIAL and DGCA to the HC in 2017,  three of the buildings are those which to be demolished for their illegal heights. It’s an SRA project – the affected people are former slum dwellers. Will they have the wherewithal to fight for and get their due compensation?”

S Mangala, DGM (Aviation Safety), WR, AAI, Mumbai

Navneet Madan is one among the 20 families living in Sadhna building in Santacruz.  (Photo: The Quint)

“I have been staying here for sixty-six years but nobody brought it up earlier. What have the authorities been doing all these years? It is ridiculous that despite having all my clearance, I will now be homeless!” said senior citizen Navneet Madan.

Unwilling to give up without a tough fight, the residents gear up for a tough legal battle that lies ahead, as the deadline for demolition approaches soon.