The Suburban District Collector filed an affidavit in the High Court and apologised for not completely removing the constructions that were obstructing the landing and flight paths of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (MIAL). At the same time, it also claimed that progress has been made in complying with the court order.
According to an earlier court order, the airport was supposed to remove 100 percent of the constructions obstructing the landing and flight paths of aircraft. However, these constructions have not been completely removed. The Suburban District Collector mentioned in the affidavit while apologising to the court that he failed in that. The District Collector also assured the court that the action would be completed at the earliest, claiming that the MIAL was being informed about the progress of the action from time to time.
A PIL was filed by Yashwant Shenoy over a decade ago, raising the issue of multi-storied buildings constructed in violation of height norms in the airport area. Taking cognizance of their petition, the court had ordered action to be taken against the illegal floors of such buildings. During the hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Bharti Dangre, an affidavit was filed apologising for not completing the action of the Sub-District Officer. Also, the progress report of the action during the last two years was also presented.
Hundreds of flights take off and land from MIAL every day. At that time, height restrictions were placed on the constructions around the airport to prevent any obstruction in their path. However, constructions have been done in the airport area in violation of these rules. According to the order of the court, action was given to the Suburban District Collectors and they were told to submit the progress report of the action to the court. Residents of many buildings have approached the High Court against the action. All these cases are pending. Some of these buildings are located in Kurla, while others are located in Bandra.
What is the action progress report?
According to the collector's affidavit regarding the action, in the last two years, one housing society partially complied with the demolition instructions, while others sought extension to comply with the orders. These buildings are planning to demolish additional floors built in violation of height norms within 30 days. They have been given a month's time for that. Some of the buildings have appealed to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) against the demolition orders, the district collector said.
Besides, a joint inspection of additional construction buildings in the airport premises was conducted on 7 and 8 February 2025, and MIAL is monitoring the progress of the operation. Apart from this, the Collector also claimed that they are coordinating with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to comply with the court order.
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