Friday, November 8, 2013

The Condemned Children of Campa Cola Compound. Mumbai. India



The Condemned Children of  Campa Cola Compound. Mumbai. India
They have done no wrong. Yet they will soon be rendered homeless, probably find their future jeopardized, their parents broken in spirit and body, and would possibly carry this trauma as a scar, lifelong. 

Where did this catastrophe begin? Well their parents put in their hard earned money into buying an apartment in the city of dreams, Mumbai. The buildings are located in what is called the Campa Cola Compound at an up-market residential area called Worli. Come the middle of November, they will be evicted from their homes, which will be demolished. And this will happen, for the lone reason, that the unscrupulous builder from whom they purchased this flat, did not get the necessary approvals from the municipal authorities. The builder exceeded the permitted built up area by 10% or so and did not pay the complete penalty required of him to the municipal authorities. The flats he built and sold, had therefore become unlawful and illegal. They were malum prohibitum and had to be removed, according to the courts. The irony here is that the people who will bear the consequence of this judgment ,are clearly not guilty of any wrong doing, either malum prohibitum or malum in se.
As the news report attached suggests, in effect, the bona fide flat owners are being duped twice. Once by the builder who took all their money and gave them flats without revealing all the material facts of the asset they were buying into. And now, by the Brihanmumbai Muncipal Corporation, which now is evicting them without  prosecuting the builder and recovering the penalty from him in the first place. http://www.moneylife.in/article/ca-cola-case-how-residents-will-be-duped-twice/34834.html
 A news report in a leading daily suggests that the BMC did not act against the violations by the builder and did not stop the construction or demolish the illegal construction because the builder was a dreaded underworld figure! Now that the buildings have been sold to law abiding citizens, it is quite happily and with rarely seen gusto ready to demolish the buildings, never mind what happens to the legal part of the buildings. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Campa-Cola-violations-wouldve-stopped-if-BMC-had-acted-says-architect/articleshow/25528738.cms


The Metropolitan Court  has now ordered a probe against the builder, something people would have expected the authorities  to do two decades ago when the whole issue cropped up in the first place!! http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report-initiate-probe-against-campa-cola-builders-metropolitan-court-tells-worli-police-1902815
So now we have a situation where youngsters have their academic careers ruined, parents who are financially and mentally devastated, grandparents and elderly who are practically on the streets, all because of a procedural excess by an unscrupulous builder and lax municipal authorities who let this issue snowball into a tsunami which has now ruined nearly a 100 families!!. Naturally, for the children and their elders, it is a “do or die” battle for their homes and their lives..

The legislators, including the Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, can intervene and pass an ordinance to stop the demolitions. However, no such intent seems to be in evidence.
The demolitions proposed are prima facie impractical and fraught with technical problems. In addition, the act of demolishing the top floors alone, pose grave risk and inconvenience to the residents of “legal floors and flats”, below. Technology is not available to do demolitions of a few flats alone at the top, without affecting the structural safety of the buildings. There is also the question of managing the supply of essential drinking water, during the demolition, which is the legal right of the residents. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-07/mumbai/43773271_1_campa-cola-legal-floors-structures
The builder is clearly the person who has to be prosecuted and the dues for the additional FSI used has to be recovered from him. It is a mystery as to why this is not being done and the unholy hurry in destroying these hundred homes. In fact, the manner in which the municipal authorities have handled this issue has come up for criticism.There are allegations flying around that the BMC does not want to open a “can of worms” at this stage and wants to bury this whole issue in a rubble. If there is no action against the builder and the bona fide owners of these flats compensated, these allegations will only fester and prove costly for the authorities when the elections arrive.
A Government which claims to be for the “common man” should NOT act in a manner which actually suits a Government for the “common criminal”. The public opinion on this issue has already been documented and published.
 Lets hope this Gandhian  and peaceful struggle by the condemned and cursed families of Campa Cola does not result in any loss of innocent lives… 





P.S.
11th and 12th November 2013.
And finally the rescue came in the form of a stay from the Supreme Court of India. We hope things are resolved before May 2014. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/and/nation/Campa-Cola-housing-society-SC-stays-demolition-till-May-31-2014/articleshow/25686172.cms
The Supreme Court ruling clearly understands the human interest involved in the case apart from the literal interpretation of the law and gives hope to the people of Campa Cola Compound. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sc-stays-campa-cola-demolition-may-consider-plan-for-separate-building/1194371/1


Ends.
 I am not a resident of Campa Cola Society, but I believe this is an injustice that should be stopped.
“Then I'll be all aroun' in the dark. I'll be ever'where - wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. If Casy knowed, why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an' - I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build, why, I'll be there.” - Tom Joad. 
From the novel "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck.