States » WestPosted at: Nov 4 2026 8:27PM


BMC apologises after SC stops salary of BMC commissioner for failure to remove encroachments

Mumbai, Nov 4 (UNI) The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has apologised to the Supreme Court and launched a desperate demolition drive here on Wednesday to remove encroachments.
The BMC action came hours after the Supreme Court suspended Mumbai municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide’s November salary for failing to remove encroachments on a land parcel in the western suburb of Borivali, which is an unprecedented event in the history of Mumbai city and the BMC.
The apology came after the Supreme Court issued a contempt notice against BMC Commissioner in the matter. The land was originally reserved for the construction of a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) electrical substation.
According to BMC officials, a major demolition drive was undertaken to remove multiple unauthorised structures, including shops, shanties and commercial units. The BMC lawyer has informed the Supreme Court that action has been taken, after the apology was issued.
The controversial plot which made the Supreme Court freeze BMC Commissioner Bhide’s salary is located right before Borivali West local railway station.
The land parcel has been under litigation since 1986 after a private real estate developer called Parag Construction entered into a development contract to construct housing units on the land, despite the fact that the plot was reserved to construct a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) electrical substation.
However, encroachments started to increase on the land parcel because the plot remained under a legal dispute for decades.
According to sources, top BMC officials were regularly paid huge bribes running into crores of rupees, by both the encroachers as well as real estate developers.
On August 11, 2025, the Supreme Court ordered Parag Construction to to hand over the land to the BMC and directed BMC to take possession of the land meant to construct the BEST electrical substation within three months, remove the encroachments and ensure the BEST substation is constructed and becomes operational by the end of 2025.
More specifically, the Supreme Court directed Parag Construction to hand over vacant possession of 3,400 square metres of land earmarked for the BEST electrical substation, bus stand and administrative building to the BMC, which was directed to complete the remaining construction and make the facility functional within three months of taking possession.
Separately, the Supreme Court also ordered the BMC to continue efforts to remove all encroachments in and around the land parcel.
Later, on November 13, 2025, the Supreme Court expressed prima facie concern that the BMC was attempting to evade its responsibility to remove encroachments after claiming that certain occupants were lawful tenants.
The Supreme Court directed the BNC Commissioner to file a personal affidavit disclosing all details of the occupants, eviction notices issued to them and their replies, documents supporting tenancy or ownership claims and inquiries undertaken to verify their genuineness.
However, sources said that top BMC officials took no action whatsoever, kept on taking bribes and even increased their bribe amounts, due to which the construction of the BEST electrical substation and other facilities got delayed.
The BMC’s luck ran out after the matter reached the Supreme Court and it issued a contempt notice against BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide and directed her lawyers to file a personal affidavit giving all details of occupants encroaching on the Borivali land parcel.
The Supreme Court has also issued eviction notices to the occupants.
The disputed land parcel in Borivali is about approximately 5,800 square metres of land in Borivali in Mumbai, out of which 3,400 square metres was earmarked for a BEST electrical substation, a bus stand and an administrative building, which was supposed to be constructed by Parag Construction.
Under consent terms recorded on October 31, 2002, the BMC was required to cooperate with Parag Construction to remove unauthorised occupants.
Earlier contempt proceedings were disposed of in January 2012, after 15 structures occupied by 13 unauthorised occupants were demolished by the BMC.
The dispute resurfaced after Parag Construction alleged that encroachments continue to obstruct the project, while BMC claimed that the real estate developer failed to hand over the bus stand and administrative building in completed condition.
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