Tension arose in Mahal area when Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) anti-encroachment squad demolished five flats and several shops at Gayatri Plaza on Tuesday. Assistant Municipal Commissioner (Gandhibagh zone) Ganesh Rathod stated that the builder had exceeded the approved construction area of 4073 sq mtr by allegedly building an additional 688 sq mtr. Besides the five flats, the NMC is also removing illegal constructions of commercial shops on the building’s ground floor and basement.
Workers are using excavator machines to tear down buildings on each floor. Rathod mentioned that shopkeepers and locals tried to stop them. However, with a court order and police help, the action was carried out smoothly, said enforcement superintendent Sanjay Kamble. Gayatri Plaza’s construction got approval from the NMC’s town planning department in 1992.
However, a developer named Chawla sold around 32 flats to different buyers, surpassing the authorized construction limit. The builder purportedly added a fifth floor with five flats, which was not part of the approved plans. Following the High Court’s directives, the process is still in progress, and a report detailing the actions taken is due to be submitted to the court by May 3rd.