Mumbai News: BMC Demolishes Illegal Shops At Prathamesh Tower, Lower Parel After 6-Year Legal Battle

Mumbai: The civic team of G South ward carried out demolition of unauthorised constructions at Prathamesh Tower, located within the Raghuvanshi Mill Compound in Lower Parel on Thursday. The demolition follows a prolonged legal battle that began in 2018, when the BMC first served a notice against the illegal structures constructed on the building’s ground floor.

The action pertains to the removal of unauthorised constructions located in shop nos. 3 and 4 on the ground floor of Prathamesh Tower. According to a civic official, the BMC had issued a notice in 2018 under Section 351 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, addressing these illegal constructions. However, the occupants challenged the BMC’s notice in the city civil court, which subsequently dismissed their plea.

Undeterred, the occupants escalated the matter to the Bombay High Court, which, after reviewing the case, remanded the issue back to the city civil court for further adjudication. The civil court, upon reconsideration, dismissed their challenge, thereby clearing the way for the BMC to take immediate action and initiate the demolition of the unauthorised structures. Accordingly, the structures were demolished by officials of Building and Factory (B&F) department of G South ward.

In January, the BMC's B&F department in G-South ward carried out inspection and found 183 commercial units operating on the premises of Raghuvanshi Mills in Lower Parel, as against 41 listed on BMC records. "Partitions have been made within the original commercial structure to create additional units, taking the number to four times the actual," said civic sources.