Maharashtra Lokayukta has said on Tuesday that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Shiv Sena-controlled civic body, has been delaying the demolition of the compound wall of the bungalow of Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in Mumbai’s Juhu area for a road-widening project, citing lame excuses.
“The reason given by the BMC for not carrying out the demolition doesn’t appear to be correct. Whenever a road-widening project is undertaken, adequate budgetary provision is made by the BMC for implementation. It is obvious that the BMC is delaying the demolition of the boundary wall by giving lame excuses,” the Lokayukta order said.
In its order, Maharashtra Lokayukta Justice V M Kanade stated that the demolition work will be delayed by at least a year as things stand now and that the civic authority should issue a notice to the deputy engineer (roads) western suburbs about the delay.
“It is a matter of common knowledge that after May 30, no demolition work is carried out during monsoon. The work, therefore, would be delayed by at least one more year,” it added.
The BMC, on its part, had stated that it has not taken over a section of the bungalow site since it lacks a contractor for the road-widening project. The civic authority further stated that it will demolish the wall and acquire the land in the following fiscal year when a road contractor is hired for the project.
Tulip Miranda, a Congress corporator who complained to the Maharashtra Lokayukta about the civic inaction in October 2021, said the BMC demolished the boundary wall of building premises adjacent to the superstar’s bungalow in 2019 and took over a portion of its land for road-widening but left his bungalow untouched.
The Congress had alleged that the BMC hadn’t acted despite asking survey officials to demarcate the portion in July.
It may be noted that the BMC had alerted Amitabh Bachchan and seven other nearby property owners about the road widening project in 2017. Officials had informed them, then, that the city will take the compound portion of these buildings and widen Sant Dnyaneshwar Road from 40 to 60 feet to relieve traffic congestion in the road running from Prateeksha to the ISKCON Temple. But, with no development in the acquisition from July to October last year, the Congress leader had moved the Lokayukta.
