MUMBAI, May 12 -- In a temporary relief to residents of Mamlatdarwadi in Malad West, the Bombay high court and the city civil court, in two separate cases filed by residents, have ordered a one-month stay on the road-widening works being undertaken by the BMC. The residents went to court after the BMC began widening Road No 6 in Mamlatdarwadi from 4.5 metres to nine metres by razing their compound walls. "We got to know about the work only when a bulldozer came to raze the structure on April 30," said resident Kamlesh Deorukhkar. Following this, affected residents of four of the 16 buildings on Road No 6 petitioned the courts in the first week of May. The high court case was filed by Gariba Hospital while the residents of Maitry Residency and Gurukrupa Residency jointly approached the city civil court. The matter will be heard in the HC on June 10 and on June 16 in the city civil court. The residents allege that the road is being widened hastily to favour a builder who is planning to construct a high-rise on a plot adjacent to the P North ward office. "They are widening this road to exactly nine metres, which paves the way for the builder to get an FSI approval for a high rise," said Shah. Dr Biten Gariba of Gariba Hospital said they went to court because the road works would affect the hospital compound. Advocate D Singh, representing Maitry Residency and Gurukrupa Residency, pleaded that their internal temporary 4.5-metre road was a private plot and therefore belonged to the society. "Thus, it cannot be widened without acquisition," he said. "Also no notice of any nature was served upon the society by the BMC regarding the said road-widening. Whether the internal road is a part of the Development Plan 2034 is under consideration." On April 15, the civic body served a notice under Section 299 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, which stated that the demarcated area would have to be cleared within seven days, failing which the BMC would itself clear it. "We were directly served the notice. No discussions about suggestion, objections and compensation took place, and we were not even intimated," said resident Dejul Shah, adding that the road had about 52 trees on it which would be affected. Salil Thackare, an architect, pointed out that the road was a dead end. "Only a limited number of people stay here, and all of us are opposing this," he said. "Then why the haste? The existing road is good enough for us." The residents say that the road-widening will also be dangerous. "The digging will be perilously close to our pillars and could affect the structural integrity of the building," said Thackare. Added Nahush Nene, "If we give away our compound, our building will have no parking space. Why should we give our land, then park on the road and pay penalties to the BMC?"...