Campa Cola residents agree to vacate

Mumbai: After a three-day standoff over their eviction, residents of Campa Cola compound on Sunday finally gave in following the intervention of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

Addressing a press conference, Ashish Jalan, a resident of Campa Cola compound who was part of the delegation that met the Chief Minister, said the residents would no longer obstruct the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) which was implementing the Supreme Court order on illegal flats and allow the civic officials inside the complex from Monday.

“Chavan assured us that he would look into our demand of getting 67,000 sq ft permissible FSI and asked us to comply with the court orders. He said he would positively consider the demand and seek opinion of the concerned authorities. With that assurance, we are taking the first step of co-operating with the system to get our redevelopment rights,” Jalan said.

According to Jalan, the Chief Minister told the residents, who met him that state intervention was not possible despite humanitarian considerations because of the Supreme Court order.

Jalan said the residents would meet the civic authorities and ask them to carry out their work in the complex of cutting of essential supplies to the illegal flats.

Campa Cola residents had argued that they were victimised for the fault of the builders and civic officials, who colluded in violating rules to build illegal floors.

In June last year, the Supreme Court had ordered families occupying the illegal flats to vacate the building by May. Their deadline to hand over the keys ended on June 12.

The residents moved the Supreme Court to buy more time to help legalise their home of three decades. But the court on June 3 rejected their plea and ordered them to vacate their flats.

Seven high-rises were constructed in the Campa Cola Compound, between 1981 and 1989. The builders had permission for only five floors. The residents have been fighting a legal battle since 2000, when they first went to the Bombay High Court to legalise their water and power supply.