Nagpur Municipal declares Empress Mall’s 39 shops unauthorized, unsafe

NAGPUR: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has declared 39 shops situated on the ground, first, second and third floors of Empress Mall as unauthorized and unsafe. The civic body had also directed developer KSL and Industries Limited to shut the shops, but since the order was not complied with, directives have been given to NMC water works department and MSEDCL/SNDL to snap water and power connections to these parts of the mall immediately.
A team of NMC Dhantoli zone, fire and emergency services department, and town planning department inspected the entire mall on February 28. On March 5, NMC Dhantoli Zone declared parts of the mall’s basement, ground plus fours floors as unauthorized, and issued notice under section 53 of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act to KSL. It also directed it to stop using these parts and demolish the structures.
Also, the fire department issued notice dated March 6 to KSL under section 8(1) of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Act declaring these parts unsafe and also directed vacating these areas due to lack of fire preventive and safety systems. Then, the department also issued letters to MSEDCL/SNDL and water works department to snap power and water supply, respectively, on March 6.
Copies of the notices were submitted with advocates Vivek Bharadwaj and Anirudha Deo, who represent petitioners Chandu Lade and others in the PIL being heard in Nagpur bench of Bombay high court. Copies of all notices are in possession of TOI.
The NMC departments have pointed out violations on a large scale in the mall. All these violations are in addition to the series of violations that came to fore in the mall since 2013. “All these unauthorized constructions cropped up in these parts of the mall after issuance of part occupancy certificate dated January 20, 2011. Total unauthorized construction is 1,58,105.07 sq ft (14,693.78 sq m),” NMC said.
Earlier, NMC had pointed out unauthorized constructions in mall and other structures in Empress City, excluding residential towers, at 4,71,247.21 sq ft. Now, the total unauthorized constructions have increased to 6,29,352.28 sq ft, which is equal to 630 residential flats measuring 1,000 sq ft each.
The NMC departments were sitting pretty citing stay from HC and not taking action against the mall for the last one-and-a-half years. TOI had on January 9 and 20 highlighted various types of violations in the mall and city comprising residential towers. Also, TOI had reported about NMC rejecting the revised layout plan of Empress City.
Hearing the PIL, judges BP Dharmadhikari and Swapna Joshi, on January 24, had slammed NMC for negligence. Also, MLC Anil Sole submitted LAQ for discussion in state legislative council, where discussion was held on March 7. A day before, NMC departments had issued the latest notices.
One of the directors of KSL, Gaurav Tayal, told TOI it was not appropriate on NMC’s part to initiate such action during pendency of PIL and writ petitions in the HC. “We also filed an objection against the fire department’s latest notice with director of Maharashtra Fire Services. Our aim is to give the best to the city. We are regularizing all unauthorized constructions. Various applications, including revised layout plan, are under consideration in NMC,” he said.
Sole said NMC’s latest notices prove negligence of officials in taking action against Empress mall and city. “CM Devendra Fadnavis had ordered an inquiry into negligence of NMC. The civic body should regularize whatever is compoundable and demolish remaining structures immediately. Open spaces should be taken over as per the agreement and basic amenities should be ensured. Necessary action should be taken against KSL,” he said.