Growel’s 101 Mall Shut: HC Upholds MPCB’s Closure Order Over Environmental Violations | File Photo
Mumbai: Growel’s 101 Mall located in Kandivali (E) has been shut down after its petition challenging the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MPCB) closure notice was dismissed by the Bombay High Court.
While MPCB came down heavily on the mall for its failure to get environmental clearance (EC), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has conveniently ignored the long list of violations carried out by the mall.
On March 18, the Bombay High Court upheld MPCB’s closure directions against Growel’s 101 Mall for operating without obtaining EC. The high court termed the violation as “extremely serious” and directed immediate enforcement of the closure order. According to sources, the mall has been shut down since Friday, following the court order.
During the hearing, the mall’s parent company Grauer and Weil (India) Ltd. admitted that it had constructed the mall and commenced operations without obtaining any EC. The court also noted that the operations of the mall were commenced without obtaining consent to establish (CTE) from MPCB.
On February 3, 2024, MPCB refused to grant CTE to Growel’s 101 Mall due to a series of violations. The violations included the commencement of construction and operation without obtaining CTE, failure to pay penalty and failure to obtain EC. The document, accessed by The Free Press Journal, stated that the mall failed to reply to MPCB’s show cause notice even after sufficient and reasonable opportunity.
A senior MPCB official told The Free Press Journal, “We had asked the mall to stop its activities within 14 days but it decided to go to the High Court. The honourable court ruled in our favour and on the same day, we directed the respected departments to disconnect its water and electricity supply.”
Sources said that the mall has a long way to restart its operations again as it will have to pay a hefty penalty for violation, settle the legal case, submit a fresh application for an EC and then clear its screening process. Until then, the operations of the mall cannot be started.
During its construction, Growel’s 101 Mall did not exceed the built-up area threshold of 20,000 sq.mt. and therefore the condition of obtaining EC was not put forth. However, the mall exceeded that limit in 2010 and is since due to obtain the clearance. The civic body’s Building Proposals department has repeatedly insisted the mall to obtain EC to receive any development-related permissions. However, past municipal commissioners have approved permissions citing “miscellaneous nature” of the proposals.
The state-level expert appraisal committee-2 (SEAC-2), which screens projects for EC, had deferred the mall’s proposal in July 2020 after highlighting various discrepancies in its application and non-compliance of norms.
MPCB had issued the closure notice on March 5 following a written complaint by Lokhandwala Residents’ Association (LRA) founder and social activist Shishir Vivekanand Shetty to union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav, secrataries of the ministry and officials from MPCB. The complaint dated January 24, accused Growel’s 101 Mall of environmental and pollution control violations.
In November 2024, he also issued a legal notice to the chief minister, BMC commissioner and various civic departments, accusing them of inaction against various violations carried out by the mall. The notice alleged failure to obtain EC, diversion of a major nullah, failure to obtain occupation certificate (OC), illegal chemical laboratory, illegal pay and park facility and failure to hand over the plot reserved under Development Plan (DP) even after utilising the floor space index (FSI) benefits from BMC.
Failure to obtain environmental clearance was the only violation associated with MPCB and the body came down strictly against the mall. However, the civic body, which needs to look after the rest of the violations, has failed to take any concrete steps against the mall. The Free Press Journal has been reporting about various violations by the mall since March 2024.
Shetty said, “Various permissions have been granted to the mall by BMC over these years even when the civic body’s letters to the mall from as long as 2002 mention that it does not comply to various rules. Only after we filed a legal representation, BP stopped approving new permissions. The BMC commissioner has directed the ward officer Manish Salve to conduct a joint meeting of all the associated departments along with the complainant but the latter has failed in his duty.”
The Free Press Journal contacted the mall authorities who refused to comment on this issue.
