BMC demolishes illegal film studios in Mumbai following NGT ruling

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation on Friday began demolishing several illegal film studios situated in the coastal areas of Madh, Erangal, Marve, and Batti in Malad, following the National Green Tribunal (West)'s verdict. The action was taken after Kirit Somaiya, a former MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party, exposed the issue in September 2022, claiming that illegal constructions worth Rs. 1,000 crore had been erected in the area in defiance of regulations.

"The NGT passed an order yesterday (April 6) that these studios are unauthorised, and they have misused permissions and built permanent structures instead of temporary studios for six months," Somaiya told media persons at the demolition site.

Somaiya accused the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of erecting "unlawful monuments of corruption," pointing fingers at former Shiv Sena (UBT) Minister Aditya Thackeray and Congress ex-minister Aslam Sheikh, the local MLA, for granting permission for the illegal constructions.


After Somaiya filed a complaint, BMC Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal initiated an investigation, with the inquiry report submitted in February 2023, which reportedly found procedural shortcomings by half-a-dozen civic officials from various concerned departments in the BMC P-North Ward, but no illegality.

Locals had lodged over four dozen complaints with the BMC in 2021-2022 regarding unsanctioned film studios in Coastal Regulatory Zones and No Development Zones.

Ahead of the demolition, Somaiya and his supporters arrived in the area, carrying symbolic tools and surveyed the site with purported civic officials, making thumbs-up signs, and overseeing the bulldozing of the standing studios.