BMC razes parts of Shatrughan Sinha’s house

Yet another celebrity faced civic heat on Monday for illegal construction. The BMC demolished several illegal structures inside the eight-storey residential building of senior BJP MP and former minister Shatrughan Sinha in Juhu. Sinha was at home at the time. A former actor, Sinha lives in Ramayan, with his family, including actor-daughter Sonakshi. He said there were minor alterations in his house and that he supported the civic staff in removing them. Civic officials said they found two toilets and a pantry in the refuge area; a toilet on the terrace; and an office and a puja room in the building stilt to be illegal. Except the puja room, all the other illegal structures were demolished. They have asked Sinha to shift the temple and remove the puja room. A police case will soon be filed against Sinha for violating rules and the cost of the demolition will be recovered from him. Interestingly, Sinha received the first notice on December 6 last year regarding the violations, a day after he came out in support of his party colleague and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha’s agitation against the BJP-led state government. Yashwant Sinha was rallying for farmers in Akola. “The government is encouraging having toilets inside houses so we had constructed one on the terrace so that people working in the building can use it. I have no issues with the BMC removing it. The puja room was shifted to the stilt temporarily as we are awaiting additional construction rights to build a permanent one. I co-operated with the officials without creating any commotion.” When asked if his backing for Yashwant Sinha had anything to do with the demolition, he laughed it off. Civic officials stated that they had received a complaint three months ago about Sinha having violated the floor space index (FSI) rule by constructing additional structures in the building without permissions. The BMC had issued a notice under Section 53 (1) of the Maharashtra Region and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, asking him to explain his position.