Campa Cola Colony Uncapped

Were the Campa Cola compound residents hapless victims or active enablers of a corrupt builder-politician nexus?

WrittenBy:Visvak Sen
Date:
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“We were badly disturbed by the development that is taking place at Campa Cola premises in Mumbai”, said the two-judge panel of the Supreme Court that took suo moto cognisance of media coverage of the eviction under process and issued a stay order. “Apart from legal issues, there is also a human problem in the case.”

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In its judgment dated October 1, 2013 which rejected the residents’ plea for regularisation of the illegal construction at the Campa Cola compound, the Supreme Court set November 11, 2013 as the date for demolition and directed that the residents could not seek further relief from any court. The court was informed that 75% of the affected residents had already moved out and the rest merely wanted time till after Diwali to follow suit.

Diwali came and went, but the residents stayed put. Instead of finding alternate accommodation, as they had assured the court they would, they organised a massive campaign that by way of social media and primetime television hijacked the nation’s attention. A campaign which culminated in the Supreme Court stepping in and contradicting its original order on the matter.

It would seem harsh to begrudge someone the right to stay in their own homes. But the portrayal of the Campa Cola residents as hapless victims of the system and yet another example of middle class everyday-men being trampled upon by forces larger than them, is a half-baked version of the truth. This was an image put forward by their campaign which seemed to be gleefully lapped up by mainstream media. It fits nicely into the age-old narrative in which politicians are corrupt and bureaucrats are corrupt and businessmen are corrupt – but the common man is merely an unwitting bystander rather than an active enabler.

The Campa Cola Compound was built in the 80s by Yusuf Patel, a gangster who recast himself as a real estate tycoon. His modus operandi was to build illegal vertical additions to perfectly legal constructions. He did so by ignoring all rules and regulations regarding Floor Space Index (FSI) and using the considerable influence he had accumulated as a gangster to deal with any problems that arose as a result. The residents were perfectly aware of this of course. Jayant Tipnis, an architect associated with the compound since 1985 is reported to have said, “Despite being aware of the illegalities, these residents bought homes in the compound as they were being sold at very low rates.” The Supreme Court acknowledges this in its initial judgment as well.

Built in violation of norms and with flagrant disregard to repeated stop-work notices from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Campa Cola building does not have an Occupation Certificate. This is not necessarily a problem, though. Only 51% of buildings cleared for construction in Mumbai possess this elusive bit of documentation. The residents of Campa Cola could probably have lived out the rest of their lives in this state of limbo, if they had not made the ill-advised move of drawing attention to the situation. “When the residents decided to approach the BMC for water connections knowing that the building does not have the mandatory OC, I warned them that this could lead to trouble. A section of residents felt that they could bring in influential lawyers such as DS Gandhi who had won many cases against BMC”, Tipnis is quoted as saying.

The court evaluated the situation and ordered the demolition of the illegal portion of the building. And thus began the Save Campa Cola Campaign. Orchestrated by an extremely savvy group of residents, it made use of Twitter, Facebook and a small army comprising of some of the most influential lawyers and politicians in the country. A group which came together to push their case to the very top of the huge pile of disaffected citizens who are trying to get their troubles heard in our country.

Unsurprisingly, the bulldozers were called off in the nick of time. Politicians rushed into the fray and attempted to cover themselves with whatever glory was available. “The force being used today is very wrong. These are innocent people, they are not violent. I will take this issue to the Centre and will complain to the Congress’ high command if proper action won’t be taken on it”, said Milind Deora, Congress MP from Mumbai South. Both the political and judicial establishments, which were so affected by the plight of the Campa Cola residents, have been utterly silent when citizens on the wrong side of the Tendulkar line have found themselves in similar situations.

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The residents and large sections of mainstream media have incessantly asserted over the course of the Campa Cola debate that their woes are owing to the builder-politician-administration nexus that they have found themselves in the middle of. A cold and detached analysis of the facts reveals that they have benefited from this very nexus. They acquired cut-price homes in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world. It was this very nexus that got their homes built and allowed them to buy these homes at a decreased market rate. Since they did not deem it prudent to raise a stink about it then, it would follow that they should accept the decidedly gloomy fates that they have been confronted with now.

The Supreme Court has given the residents till May 31, 2014 to vacate the premises. Going by what transpired last week, we might see this directive too change direction thanks to a strong gust of pathos.

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