Wilson College in Girgaon Chowpatty has been issued a stop work notice by the BMC. The notice was issued after RTI activist Santosh Daundkar sought information from the civic body pertaining to the ongoing repair work on the ground floor of the building, adjacent to the canteen area. The college authorities have been asked to submit permissions within 24 hours, failing which the BMC will remove all equipment from the site.
The notice states that the BMC is convinced that the college is carrying unlawful repairs, which have been described in the appended schedule. The civic body claimed in the notice that the repairs are in contravention to certain sections of the Bombay Municipal Act 1888. It stated that structural repairs being carried out include “jacketing of columns and beams, and demolition of existing siporex walls on the ground floor” without obtaining prior permission.
Daundkar said Wilson College is a heritage structure and the authorities can’t undertake repairs or make structural changes without prior permission of the BMC. “Hence, I sought information from the Municipal Commissioner and D-Ward about the repairs and requested them to stop work, in case there is any violation,” he said.
Assistant municipal commissioner of D-Ward Prashant Gaikwad said, “Even though the ongoing repair work has no link to it being a heritage structure, and the college is not harming the structure, they need to take prior permission from the building proposal department of the BMC.”
Managing director of Wilson College, Sanjay Singh clarified that the management has “not purposely violated the rules of BMC”. He said, “We saw cracks on the pillars and columns of the building, The government has now allowed physical attendance. Who will be responsible if an untoward incident like a collapse occurs? Therefore, we decided to undertake repairs.”
Singh said prior to repairs, the college appointed a BMC-approved structural auditor. “After inspection, the auditor submitted a report and did not speak about any permission. We started the repair work accordingly. Now, the BMC has sent us a stop work notice. An appropriate answer will be given on Monday,” he added.
