The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday removed 27 commercial structures from a plot reserved for a bus station in Mumbai, a day after the Supreme Court ordered a freeze on the salary of the civic chief over non-compliance with its directions.
On Tuesday, an top court bench issued a contempt notice to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide for failing to remove encroachments from the land and ordered a freeze on her November salary and other civic officials concerned. It said that the drive was carried out on the 3,400-square-metre plot reserved for a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus station under Town Planning Scheme-II. The BMC’s R-Central ward carried out the operation with the help of 70 workers and employees, while police personnel were also mobilised to maintain security, it said. The three-judge bench also rejected the civic body’s request for an additional 30 days to comply with its earlier directions and imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh.
