Mumbai: 2.14 lakh illegal construction complaints in 10 years, BMC completes demolition in 13,211

Data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has raised questions over the BMC's action against illegal construction. Over 10 years, 2,14,917 complaints were registered on the BMC's online portal, but demolition action was completed in only 13,211 of them.

The portal is the Real-Time Encroachment Management System (RETMS), launched on March 1, 2016. Citizens can use it to complain about unauthorised construction. The RTI data shows that more than half the complaints were treated as duplicates, while demolition action was completed in only a small share of the total cases.

The issue matters because Mumbai has seen fatal incidents linked to unauthorised structures. These include the fire at Kamala Mills Compound, the fire at Bhanu Farsan Mart, the fire at Hotel City Kinara, the collapse of the Hussaini building in Bhendi Bazaar and the collapse of the Sai Siddhi building in Ghatkopar.

RTI activist Shakeel Ahmed Sheikh had sought details of RETMS complaints, notices issued and demolition action from the BMC's encroachment removal department, Eastern Suburbs. According to the BMC's ward-wise summary report of October 26, a total of 2,14,917 complaints were registered between March 1, 2016 and October 26, 2026. Of these, 1,16,228 were treated as duplicates, leaving 98,689 complaints. Treating so many complaints as duplicates raises the question of what criteria were used.

The report says demolition was necessary in 29,916 cases, but action was completed in only 13,211. That is about 6.15 per cent of the total complaints registered.

The report lists 15,318 cases as awaiting arrangements for demolition, while arrangements had been made in 1,387 cases. The status of the remaining demolition cases is yet to be clarified. The figures record 60,332 notices prepared and 57,521 notices issued, and 31,486 show-cause orders were issued. According to the report, 38,098 complaints are closed and 13,734 are awaiting closure.

According to Sheikh, the BMC's buildings and factories department spends about Rs 50 crore a year on action against illegal construction, police arrangements and other administrative needs. He also claims that more than 15,000 notices are issued every year. The completed action is so small compared with the complaints registered that questions arise over the expenditure and its results. Sheikh alleged that in some cases there was only action on paper or, in his words, "bogus action".