Scam Hit Adarsh Housing Society Faces Demolition Threat

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has ordered the removal of the scam-tainted Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society building in Mumbai within three months. In a press release issued on Sunday, the Ministry said it has decided to remove the entire structure as it is ‘unauthorised’ and as no clearance under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 1991, was obtained.

The Ministry had considered the other two options of removal of that part of the structure in excess of the floor space index or recommending that the Government take over the building for a public use to be determined later. Jairam Ramesh, minister of state for environment and forests, said the option of removal of part of the structure was rejected since it would have been ‘tantamount to regularising or condoning an egregious violation of the CRZ (Coastal Regulatory Zone) Notification’.

The other option was rejected on the grounds that even though the final use may be in the public interest, it would still be tantamount to regularising a violation of the CRZ Notification. Besides, there would be substantial discretionary powers that would vest with the State or Central Government in case of takeover. Ramesh said that any other decision would have diluted the strong precedents that have been set in judgments of the Supreme Court and different High Courts and that ‘ignorance of law can never be an excuse for non-compliance’.

The Adarsh society, which was originally meant for allotment to Kargil war heroes and their families, has been the centre of a controversy on charges that several politicians, bureaucrats and army men were allotted flats there. It is also alleged that the building got speedy approvals for land allotment. Post the revelation, Ashok Chavan, the then Maharashtra chief minister, was forced to step down from his post. The matter is being currently investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.