21 film studios in Madh-Marve under BMC scanner

Mumbai The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has now trained its eyes on 21 studios in Malad’s Madh-Marve region – five of them were functioning illegally, beyond the validity period. HT has also learnt that the civic body had issued permissions to these studios based on its building proposal department’s circular on ‘Ease of Doing Business.’ “We are now examining the legality of the circular vis-a-vis the permissions granted and also taking into account the CRZ factor,” said the civic official. The probe was conducted after municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had ordered an inquiry into the alleged legality of 49 film studios at Madh, Marve, Erangal, Bhati and Malad, that came up between 2021 and 2022 in the No-Development Zone and Coastal Regulation Zone. The inquiry was ordered after complaints were received by the administration that the studios were built without proper permissions but with the help of BMC and Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority officials. In a written order, Chahal had appointed deputy municipal commissioner Harshad Kale as the inquiry officer to look into the alleged illegalities and also find out the role of specific civic officials who had granted permissions to these studios.