Mumbai: No respite to the builder who exploded smoke bomb in Andheri, MHADA freezes demolition

Screengrabs of a clip shot by a resident of the demolition of the building located in Andheri West’s Sangam Society complex

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority will not revoke the stop-work order at the Andheri construction site until the builder follows dust-mitigation guidelines. The building has been partially demolished and work stopped midway. MHADA also issued a stop work order to the Sangam Society redevelopment project on Monday for not following dust-mitigation guidelines.

Officials of the MHADA planning department told mid-day, "We have issued a stop work notice to the builder on Monday. Now builders need to prove that all dust-mitigation guidelines are being followed. Till then the stop work order will continue." Officials added, "Builders need to submit their compliance in writing, then our team will visit the spot and check if all points of dust mitigation are implemented.

Only then will we withdraw the stop work notice." Meanwhile, BMC will also revoke its stop work notice if the builder follows dust-mitigation guidelines. BMC officials said that the stop work notice from MHADA is more important, as MHADA is the planning authority and issues building permissions for construction.

An old eight-storey building of Sangam Society was razed on Monday for redevelopment. During the demolition, the builder did not follow BMC's dust-mitigation guidelines, including failure to erect continuous dust-breaking tin sheets/metal sheets higher than 25 feet, not using tarpaulin/green cloth/jute sheets to cover the building, lack of water sprinkling on site, and leaving construction materials and debris uncovered. Grinding, cutting, drilling, sawing, and trimming work was not done in enclosed areas, and continuous water sprinkling and fogging were not maintained while working.