B ward, which includes areas like Dongri and Bhendi Bazaar, has seen rampant illegal construction over the years under pressure from the underworld, Madhu Chavan, chairman of the Mumbai Board of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), said on Wednesday.
MHADA continued to say that the building that collapsed on Tuesday had been built illegally behind an existing cessed structure.
“Most of our buildings are ground plus two or three storeys. However, if you go to that area, you will find that buildings have seven to eight floors,” Mr. Chavan said.
He said the illegal structures had come up mainly between 1976 and 1990 under pressure from the underworld. The building that collapsed on Tuesday was in Dongri, which gained notoriety through the 1980s for being the den of the mafia, notably Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar.
Mr. Chavan said MHADA was not responsible for removing illegal structures and that it had informed the BMC about the building that collapsed in 1990, when it was being constructed.
He also challenged Congress MLA Amin Patel’s claim that the building was under MHADA’s purview, to show letters he had written against illegal structures in that area.
A MHADA official said that illegal structures typically came up when the old structures went in for repairs.
“Under the guise of repairs, a few floors would be added. Over the years, many floors have been added to several buildings in the region,” the official said.
