The order of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to demolish the 31-storey Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society building in Mumbai on the ground that it has no clearance and authorisation will surely give the much needed shock treatment to the society which was meant to provide housing to the families of Kargil martyrs but doled it out to politicians, top defence personnel and their kin. But then, should the structure be demolished? Is it not possible to find an alternative solution to utilise the building?
K.V. Raghuram,Wayanad
It is clear that the MoEF wants to prevent the regularisation of CRZ violations. But the demolition of the Adarsh building will have a negative impact on the environment. Can the carbon released in the environment during the construction be taken back? The Ministry should rethink its decision and explore some other option.
Debkumar Bhadra,South Andaman
All ineligible allotments in the Adarsh Housing building should be cancelled and the allottees given no compensation. But the cost of the construction, albeit unauthorised, should be taken into account. The asset should be utilised in a better manner. At the same time, it should be ensured that similar construction is not encouraged in future. All officials responsible for clearing the Adarsh project should be asked to explain.
K. Vydianathan,Kochi
The building may not be actually pulled down within three months because the Adarsh Society is set to approach the court for relief but the government has, at least, shown some spine. The rich and powerful will, hopefully, realise that they are bound by the law of the land.
J. Akshobhya,Mysore
The demolition order comes as a shock to everyone in the building industry. Builders are finding it very difficult to get materials. Getting sand is particularly difficult. Engineers are, in fact, trying to work out alternatives to sand.
Why didn't the government halt the construction of the Adarsh building while it was coming up, given that it had no approval? Is it possible to retrieve the material used in constructing the building? If the government wants to send a signal to the builders who violate the rules, it can go ahead with the demolition. But it should take steps to pulverise every boulder and retrieve the sand and coarse aggregate, and ensure that they are reused.
G. Hariharanath,Chennai
One must appreciate the bold approach of the Environment Ministry in ordering the demolition of the Adarsh building. It will surely send the right signal to the big fish that are smug in the belief that the government nets only the small fry.
What is surprising however is that while action has been recommended against the building — which will affect the majority of innocent occupants who have been hoodwinked by the builders — nothing substantial has been initiated against all those who allowed the building to come up.
Balvinder Singh,Chandigarh
