Environment ministry issues show cause notice to Adarsh society

NEW DELHI - The environment ministry Friday issued a show cause notice to Mumbai’s scam-tainted Adarsh housing society for removing the unauthorised structure for violating environmental laws.

In the notice, the ministry asked the society to show cause why the 31-floor structure should not be removed forthwith under section five of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

The society has been given two weeks time to reply to the notice.

The scam relates to the controversial residential block being built in Mumbai’s upscale Colaba and in the neighbourhood of naval establishments. It was originally meant to be a six-storeyed apartment block for housing Kargil war heroes and widows.

However, it was surreptitiously converted into a plush 31-storeyed building. The society has over 100 members, including former service chiefs, senior serving army officials, bureaucrats, politicians and their kin.