After Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan announced that the occupation certificate (OC) granted to the controversial Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society would be revoked, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) formally did so on Saturday.
MMRDA joint project director Dilip Kawathkar confirmed to The Hindu that the letter was sent to the Society and now nobody would be allowed to occupy the flats until the clearance for the building was granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The State government is expected to forward a report to the Ministry, which will verify the facts and decide on environmental clearance. Till that time the OC stands revoked. As a result, the building is not entitled to get water or power connections.
The Ministry had issued a statement saying that it had not granted a no-objection certificate (NoC) to the building as claimed by the Society. The building, which falls in the Coastal Regulation Zone 2 category, needed Central clearance.
The MMRDA issued the OC on September 16 and it had clarified that the OC was issued only after a proper verification by the Collector and other authorities. “The MMRDA hasn't received any letter [from the Defence Ministry] saying ‘do not issue OC to the building.' The Defence authorities had sent a letter asking for a list of members of the cooperative society. But we said the list has been finalised by the Collector and it has to be provided by him,” said Mr. Kawathkar.
The Society had applied for the OC on the basis of the sanctioned building plan and the actual construction and it was granted to them after due verification, the MMRDA maintained.
Mr. Kawathkar had also clarified on the ownership of land.
