Adarsh building to be demolished

Adarsh building to be demolished
 Ministry order lists 3 options
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JAN 16
The Environment and Forests Ministry on Sunday ordered demolition of the scan-tainted Adarsh Society building in Backbay Reclamation Area in upscale Colaba area of Mumbai, upholding its November 12 show cause notice on violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
The society has been asked to demolish the entire building within three months, failing which the Maharashtra government will have to undertake the demolition, the order said.
The order, however, gives an option to the society to demolish “the unauthorised part of the structure” which means pulling down 25 of the 31 floors to restore it to the original six-storey structure that was envisaged to house the Kargil war widows but later extended to accommodate bureaucrats, politicians and senior army officers.
There is yet another alternative in the order: Let the Maharashtra government acquire the high-rise. The order, however, does not discuss the technicalities that the State government will have to follow by first taking over the society and then the structure.
Though the order gives three alternatives, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said he would prefer the complete demolition since “”it is immaterial whether the Adarsh Society was aware of requirement to seek clearance under CRZ rules as ignorance of law can never be an excuse for non-compliance.”
Immediate demolition of the controversial building, however, is most unlikely as the society has already filed a petition before the Bombay High Court and as such it will also seek a stay on the demolition order.
The CRZ division of the ministry found Adarsh Housing Society guilty of two violations. First, the society failed to seek CRZ clearance as directed by the ministry in its letter of March 2003. Second, the floor space index (FSI) of the building was higher than stipulated in the CRZ regulations.
The society took the stand in the hearing held by the ministry here that the ministry had given it the “no-objection certificate” in 2003 and moreover the CRZ regulations were applicable only for industrial projects requiring water front and offshore facilities.
Both the ministry and the Maharashtra government are of the view that the claim of the society receiving the clearance from the ministry in 2003 is “totally wrong.” It was a letter allowing change in land use and not for allowing construction, a ministry official said and added that obtaining approval under CRZ from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority was a must.
The society had also challenged the show cause notice as “misplaced” on the ground that it was based solely on the allegations and recommendations of the National Coastal Zone Management Authority, arrived at because of statements made by the secretary, urban development and the secretary, revenue department of  the Maharashtra government.
The ministry has also found that the complex was initially for 50 persons – 19 civilians and 31 defence personnel – which was increased to 71 in 2004 and 92 in 2005.
Only on January 8 , Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had also announced a two-member judicial inquiry headed by a retired High Court judge into the irregularities committed in the Adarsh Housing Society.