Adarsh building to be demolished

NEW DELHI: The 31-storey Adarsh Housing Society building, which soars over the South Mumbai skyline as a symbol of corruption in India’s bodypolitic, will be razed, a person involved in the decision-making on the matter said.

The multi-crore Adarsh Housing Society scam, which involved illegal appropriation of prime land and blatant violations of a number of laws, shocked the country with the audacity of the promoters and the involvement of a number of influential people from the military and politics. The storm generated by the scam was such that Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan had to resign.

The environment ministry had issued a show cause notice to the society for violation of a number of laws. The society has time till December 3 to respond. Once the deadline passes, the process of demolition will be set in motion, the person said.

The building hasn’t obtained clearances from the environment ministry under the Coastal Regulation Zone notifications. The building comes in the Coastal Regulation Zone II. The CRZ clearances were not even obtained for the original proposed six storeys.

Many years ago, some floors of a high-profile building called White House on Bhagwan Das road near the Supreme Court were demolished as the additional floors didn’t have the necessary clearances. In the case of Adarsh, partial demolition isn’t being considered as the whole structure was built without CRZ clearances.

The project was originally meant as a six-storey structure to accommodate widows of the Kargil war. The building subsequently grew into a 31-storey building in the prime Colaba area of Mumbai, with the value of each apartment running into crores of rupees. The beneficiaries of the scam include a number of senior former defence personnel.
On Monday, the members of the Adarsh Society had moved the Bombay High Court challenging the cancellation of the occupancy certificate by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. The power and water supplies to the building were also discontinued by the civic agency earlier this month after the scam was revealed.

When the building is demolished, a highly visible reminder of corruption and collusion among India’s elite will be wiped off the face of South Mumbai.