The residents of Sunita building in Santacruz West have been facing a harrowing time for about a year. The residential society is one of 40 buildings in the Mumbai airport runway's funnel zone
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The residents of Sunita building in Santacruz West have been facing a harrowing time for about a year. The residential society is one of 40 buildings in the Mumbai airport runway's funnel zone.
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The BMC demolished three floors from the formerly six-storeyed building, starting from August 2016 until May 2017, stating that the society violated height norms. Residents say there was no water or electricity for days during this time and some utility lines were also damaged.
According to Hindustan Times, following the demolition, the building's roof was left unfixed with only a sheet of tarpauling covering the building to protect from rainwater. Some residents say the BMC removed the debris only after repeated complaints.
BMC officials say the immediate action was ordered by the court to be taken against the building in August 2016 but the work took a while to finish since some residents on the top floors were refusing to vacate initially.
The building's developer Ramesh Haria has questioned why the BMC has only taken action against one building in the area and not others. He further said that he redeveloped the 50-year-old building in 2012 after getting permission for six floors. He was told two years ago that the top floors are in violation to the norms.
He added that pending water work will be taken after the rains. Former legislator Krishna Hegde said BMC should have checked these irregularities before and said residents are in fear of losing their homes. Hegde also said that the ward office and factory department are to be blamed for such loopholes.
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