BMC to demolish houses built on railway land in Vikhroli

Mumbai: The Bombay HC has ordered the BMC to demolish 15 houses built on land acquired by the railways in 2006 at Vikhroli after it came to light that the original land owners had rebuilt 15 homes in 2013 and sold them off to unsuspecting buyers as soon as they got compensation.

The order came after one of the original occupants who had been compensated came to know of the dubiousness of the original landowners.  

The court held that the new buyers should have exercised caution and checked the legitimacy of the houses before purchase.

A division bench of Justices AS Oka and VV Kankanwadi were hearing a writ petition filed by Arjun Belel questioning the validity of the houses that were built on a piece of land that was acquired to lay tracks for the Kurla Mulund extra corridor in 2006. He had contended that he was one of the original occupants of the land between Vikhroli and Mulund and had been given alternate accommodation at Ghatkopar in 2009. However, in 2013 he noticed that some 15 houses had come up in the same land and hence filed the petition praying for directions to the concerned authorities to demolish the same.

According to Advocate Datta Mane, the occupants and the landowners had been compensated sufficiently.

After hearing the contentions, the bench directed the BMC to demolish the structures and submit a compliance report by July 27. S