Mumbai: Developer building residential property on hillock gets govt showcause notice

The apartments will be priced at Rs 6.4 crore or more, a press communication issued by the company said. (Representational Image)

THE STATE environment department has issued a showcause notice to developer Skyline Mansions Private Limited, which is constructing a residential property on a hillock in Vikhroli, seeking to know why the project shouldn’t be stopped as it “lacks” the requisite environmental clearance.

The department, in its notice issued on January 31, has also sought to know why action should not be initiated under the Environment Protection Act 1986 against it. The developer has been given 15 days to reply, failing which, legal action would be initiated and construction activity stopped.
The notice was issued after a Powai-based activist, Rajendra Tiwari, wrote to the department in February 2019, seeking an inquiry into the clearances that the builder has received to carry out construction work on the hillock, which has a green cover. “Around 150 trees at the site have been felled. I had complained to the BMC and the police… Now, I will raise the matter at the National Green Tribunal.” said Tiwari.

In his letter, Tiwari had listed 27 violations on the part of the developer, including lack of permission to undertake excavation at the site, no royalty for mining and construction activity being carried out without conducting an environment impact assessment study. He had also alleged that the waste generated following construction activity were not disposed scientifically.

After raising a complaint with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, in December 2018, Tiwari had approached the local police station over the alleged destruction of the green cover. “I have grown up seeing these hillocks. But now it seems they are being erased to create more land for development,” he said.

Narottam Sharma, director of Skyline Mansions Private Limited, denied the allegations. “We have all the requisite permissions to undertake construction work. The complaints are false and filed to blackmail us,” he said.