MUMBAI: Two days after three brothers drowned in a trench, residents of Kapadia Nagar and Khuraiya Estate in Kurla (W) said they will against the civic body for not taking their February 21 complaint seriously. They said a right to information (RTI) query had revealed that the contractor had violated coastal regulatory zone (CRZ-1) norms and did not follow safety measures while starting the project.
In the complaint drafted to the metropolitan commissioner, project director of the Mithi river, they demanded adequate measures like barricades and security guards at the project site. "No safety measures were followed then, and today it's the same. If a barricade had been put up, the incident would not have occurred," Nasibullah Khan, who learned about the violation through RTI, said.
Over 30 residents had launched a signature campaign on February 21 and it was attached with the complaint and RTI copy submitted to government agencies, but no action was taken. "I decided to get information through RTI when debris and soil were dumped into the river that passes from Kapadia Nagar. After noticing foul play, we approached the contractor on October 10, 2010, but they were unable to produce documents on clearance from the ministry of environment and forest to carry out the work," said Khan.
Another resident, Ibrahim Khan, said they had warned the authorities three months ago to secure the work site.
The civic body maintained that security was the contractor's responsibility. "A show-cause notice has been issued to the contractor. If we find security lapses, action will be taken. Preliminary reports suggest security measures were in place," a senior civic official from the storm waters department said.
Mohan Adtani, additional municipal commissioner, said, "We will have to look into the complaint." At this point of time, we do not have any information about the complaint."
Finding discrepancies the RTI was filed and took legal advice. "Our lawyer said that provisions of said CRZ Notification dated 19/02/1991 do not permit any such construction activities in CRZ-I area. It is thus clear that those incharge of the project are continuously committing the cognizable offences and have violated the rules," said Khan. He said the MoEF after noting the violation had directed the Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMA) to identify the violations within four months from January 1, 2011. However the matter went on extended and so far nothing have taken place," he said.
"We have rescued over five children in the last year who have fallen into the trench," he said.
The residents were annoyed at the civic authorities, who did not took the matter seriously and considered to visit the victims parents home at Mehboob Chawl in Kalina.
MMRDA officials said the area was not under their jurisdiction.
Contractor held
The Kurla police on Thursday arrested contractor Sunil Upadhyay (40), a Vakola resident, for causing death due to negligence. Upadhyay was produced before court and has been remanded to custody till Friday. He got the contract of building the retaining wall in 2007, but he did not put standard security measures in place.
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