Strongly questioning the delay of razing illegal shrines the Bombay High Court has rapped the government for not enforcing its own Government Resolution came after September 29, 2009. The Court, by saying that the government has only managed to demolish only a quarter of such structures, pointed that the machinery has faced a complete failure in this regard.

According to the reports, the state had issued the Government Resolution by which it had to start demolishing illegal shrines by November 18, 2015and the demolition was supposed to be completed within nine months. The Court added that there was not a strong oppose to demolish such structures that could be counted as an excuse.

Justice A K Oka said, “This public interest litigation has been pending for so long. No one has come forward and opposed it.”

While hearing a PIL filed by NGO Society for Fast Justice against illegal shrines in the city, Justice A K Oka and Justice A A Sayyed questioned on state seeking extension of time for taking action, “Where is the undertaking that the remaining structures will be demolished if the time is extended by three months?”

Reports said that around 15,000 such structures in the corporation area are yet to be demolished. Further, looking at the figures submitted by the BMC in front of the High Court that only four illegal shrines were identified in Mumbai, the bench asked, “Are you serious? If this is the case we will have to form a committee to examine all such structures in Mumbai.”

The Court has directed the authorities to bring clarity on figures submitted by the state government and the civic body.

By Prajakt K