BMC demolishes illegal structure at The Habitat

MUMBAI: In less than 24 hours after stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra’s video, purportedly shot at Unicontinental, The Habitat, in Khar, showing him taking an alleged dig at deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde was shared on social media, which led to Shiv Sainiks ransacking the studio and furore among the ruling Mahayuti players, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) swung into action and demolished an illegal part of the club on Monday afternoon.

The civic body’s action came after state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik reached out to BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani to demolish the studio, calling it illegal. Speaking to HT, Gagrani said he alerted the assistant commissioner of H Ward, Vinayak Vispute to “check possible illegalities in the structure”.

The BMC team found that the owners of the studio had erected a make-shift shed on the terrace, which the civic team razed. The team also found that the basement was being used as studio – a space only meant to be used for storage.

“We told them to remove the shed which is illegal. Since they were unable to do so, our people removed it,” Vispute said, adding notices are not issued to owners of property if the illegal additions made are temporary in nature.

“The basement is meant for storage – a norm flouted by the club. This is illegal. We are looking at this closely. We got the building plan, and will proceed on the next course of action on Tuesday. We will be able to say conclusively on what lies ahead then,” said Vispute.

After Sunday’s incident, Khar police have posted state reserve police force and a posse from Khar police to guard the building.

Shiv Sena chief of social media, Rahool Kanal who led the attack on the studio on Sunday, said, “This studio is completely illegal. There is no NOC from fire department. The basement is being used as a studio which is illegal. When we went to protest on Sunday, I called the studio’s owner, who only gave evasive replies.”

When HT reached out to the owner of the studio, Balraj Ghai, he evaded the calls claiming he was busy with officers and that he would call back later, which did not happen till the time of going to press.

Studio run by freedom fighters’ family, says state Cong chief

State Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal stated that the studio belonged to the family of a freedom fighter, who had generously made it available for use without any profit motive.

“The attack by Shinde’s supporters on this cultural centre is not just an assault on freedom of expression but also a desecration of property that once belonged to a freedom fighter. This incident raises larger questions about democratic values and the kind of society we aspire to live in,” Sapkal asserted.