Gorai resort continues to operate despite MPCB stop-work notice

Mumbai: Six months after the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) issued a stop-work notice to Sun Beach Resort in Gorai for flouting pollution control norms, the resort continues to operate while the authorities seemingly ignore the violations.

The MPCB’s initial notice in June had highlighted several infringements, including the lack of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance, the absence of a sewage treatment plant and improper waste disposal into the sea. The MPCB, in its directive, called on the power-supplying agency to cut off electricity and the civic body to disconnect water supply to the resort.

The notice by MPCB identified five non-compliances, with the major focus being on the absence of the mandatory CRZ clearance. It also highlighted the resort’s failure to seek MPCB’s permission before commencing operations with 40 rooms apart from its lack of appropriate waste disposal mechanisms. The fact that the resort continues to operate raises concerns about environmental enforcement and regulatory oversight.

Sanjay Bhosale, regional officer, MPCB, said that the board had issued a notice to the resort management and simultaneously asked the BMC to demolish the structure. “We have also asked the local electricity supply agency to stop the power supply,” he said. We have done our job, and it is for the civic body to follow up.”

When questioned, Sandhya Nandedkar, assistant municipal commissioner of R Central ward, disclosed that the demolition team had visited the resort on October 9 and demolished rooms within the property. “We couldn’t demolish the structure earlier, as the owner had applied to the corporation’s development plan department,” she said. “After the plan was rejected earlier this month, our team demolished the rooms inside the resort and made it inhabitable. However, the owner, Abdul Hamid Mapkhan Shah, went to the Supreme Court and got a stay. We don’t know if the rooms have been rebuilt and are operational now.”

The apex court on October 13 had passed an order directing the BMC not to proceed with the demolition subject to the condition that the owner of the resort too would maintain status quo with regard to the structures. Shah had approached the SC, challenging the Bombay high court’s order to demolish the structure. The SC hearing is scheduled on Thursday.

The resort owner has been attempting to evade civic action against his property for months now. In February, the BMC had served a notice to him for unauthorised constructions, including rooms on the ground floor and the first floor, a security cabin, an open shed near the swimming pool, a banquet hall, seven wooden ground-plus-one shacks and 12 wooden ground-floor shacks.

To stop his illegal constructions from being demolished, Shah sought legal recourse in the city civil court at Dindoshi (Borivali Division, Goregaon). However, the court dismissed his motion. Subsequently, Shah approached the Bombay high court to challenge the lower court’s order, but the HC too dismissed it on April 26 and ordered demolition of the unauthorised structures.