The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday initiated demolition action against unauthorised construction carried out in violation of sanctioned building plans at one wing of the high-rise residential complex, Rustomjee Crown, in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi.

The violations included the use of glass and aluminium structures in common lobbies to convert the spaces into habitable areas, officials said.

The luxury residential complex reportedly houses flats owned by Maharashtra Cabinet ministers and MLAs. The Prabhadevi project comprises three towers, two of which are 63 storeys, while the third one has 65 floors.

Story continues below this ad

According to official records, the BMC had previously issued notices to 128 flat owners in the complex over unauthorised alterations carried out across multiple floors.

“On Monday, the action was taken against three to four flats. The demolition is continuing,” an officer said on Tuesday.

The violations came to light in November last year following a complaint by RTI activist Santosh Daundkar, who flagged alleged encroachments in the building’s lobby areas. He alleged that some flat owners had illegally merged 450-500 square feet of common space with their apartments to increase the usable carpet area.

“Based on the prevailing market rate valuation of approximately Rs 50,000 per sqft, the encroached area represents an unauthorised gain of Rs 2.25 crore to Rs 2.50 crore per flat/unit. Considering the number of flats in Tower ‘A’, the aggregate market value of the encroached area is estimated to be in the range of 225 crore to Rs 250 crore,” read Daundkar’s complaint.

Story continues below this ad

Later, based on the directive of the then BMC additional municipal commissioner, the civic ward office served 128 notices across the flats for unauthorised construction. In March, the civic body issued speaking orders to some flat owners for merging the lobby area into habitable spaces against the authorised building plans.

Following the notices, the BMC on Monday deployed labourers to raze the unauthorised constructions across floor on two floors inside one of the complex wings.

“The action by the Municipal Corporation is welcome. However, it raises more questions than it solves as to how the building plans were approved, which gave scope to encroach on the common areas, also has to be seen,” YP Singh, Daundkar’s advocate, said.