Saturday, November 9, 2013
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.
On the day of the eviction decreed there was high drama at
the Campa Cola Compound. http://www.ndtv.com/article/cheat-sheet/campa-cola-compound-residents-fight-eviction-as-officials-start-disconnecting-power-water-supply-445123
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.
From the novel "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)