As the deadline to vacate their illegal houses on the Campa Cola compound approaches, residents continue to dig in their heels.“We will fight till the very end… even if the municipal officials throw us out or into the prison,” said resident Sunanda Verma.
The upscale residential complex in south Mumbai was built in the 1980s. According to the municipality, the builders had obtained permission for constructing only five floors. However, 35 floors were added without permission, making 140 flats illegal. The municipality, on Monday, issued notices to residents of the illegal flats asking them to hand over the keys to their flats within 72 hours. The deadline ends at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
“If the residents do not cooperate with us, we will have to take legal action against them and file a contempt of court petition,” said an official from the civic body.
But residents remain unfazed. “We are moving our belongings so that they don’t get destroyed. Some of us are keeping our stuff with relatives, others in offices. We put up a shed in the compound thinking we could go and live there but the civic body has told us even that is illegal,” said Vijay Mirani, a resident occupying the 15th floor.
The civic body had earlier asked the residents to vacate their homes by May 2. The residents failed to do so and appealed to the Supreme Court citing “fresh evidence” in their favour. The apex court, however, dismissed the plea on Tuesday. It held that the residents could not be deemed innocent as they had bought the flats knowing those were unauthorised.
Lata’s appealOn Monday, singer Lata Mangeshkar took to Twitter to voice her concern over the proposed demolition. The singer owns one of the illegal flats.
The tweet was addressed to the State government, asking it to consider the plight of the residents. “Thousands of people will be homeless, among whom are children and old people. Three people have died in the trauma so far. The common man has to suffer for the builders’ mistakes, this is injustice,” she tweeted.
