Razed Ambedkar Bhavan raises row

Demolition of the historic Ambedkar Bhavan in Mumbai’s Dadar neighbourhood is snowballing into a controversy with the iconic leader’s grandsons alleging procedural lapses by People’s Improvement Trust that controlled the building.

Dr B R Ambedkar’s followers on Tuesday  smashed some cars while agitating over the building’s demolition on Saturday in the Dadar-Boiwada-Parel area. “The situation is normal now,” a Mumbai police spokesperson said.

Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar, a former MP and  the founder-president of the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha, a splinter group of the Republican Party of India, accused PIT of not following procedures while razing the building.  He said that the Trust did not get permission from Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority or the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. “What happened was illegal. The building is of emotional value,” said Dr Anandraj Ambedkar, another grandson.

The grandsons claimed that Maharashtra’s information commissioner and former chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad were responsible for razing the building to give way for a 17-storeyed structure.