The detection of the suspected ISI agent Sayeed Ahmed Mehmood Desai by the crime branch sleuths last week has exposed the serious security risks posed by high rise buildings located near defence units. Desai was a tenant at Shewale Towers, a ground plus five high rise structure at 1, Old Bazaar which is just 150 feet away from main wall of Ammunition Factory, Khadki - one of the oldest small arms ammunition factories in the country. Desai lived in one of the top floor flats and is learnt to have made extensive use of the building terrace to gather details about the operations in the factory.

Khadki has 10 odd major defence establishments including the High Explosives Factory, 512 Army Base Workshop, Central Armoured Fleet Vehicle Depot (CAFVD) and Controller of Quality Assurance (CQA) among others. Khadki over 10 high rise buildings.

Moreover, the Cantonments Act, 1924 has no specific provision to prohibit the construction of high rise buildings near defence establishments.

Significantly, the plan for this building was passed by the Khadki Cantonment Board on February 21, 1984. This was a period cantonment boards did not have any FSI rules all over the country. Yet, the application for the sanction of this building had caused a major furore among the residents who had then questioned propriety of the board's decision to grant permission for this building near Ammunition Factory.

Shortly after permission was granted for this building Lt Gen T S Oberoi, General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C), Southern Command allowed 1 FSI to buildings in civil areas and 0.5 FSI in bungalow areas. Although the matter was discussed in the cantonment board which had sought the opinion of the Union Law Ministry, not much had come of it.

Interestingly, the sanction for this building plan came about at a time when the Central Government was contemplating an amendment to the Cantonments Act, 1924. As a result, all the cantonment boards in the country were dissolved and a one-member committee between 1981-85 had been appointed in all the 48 cantonment baords to oversee the administrative affairs.

T Parthasarthy was the cantonment executive officer (CEO) during this period and the elected body was represented by Baliram Sawant, the present vice-president of the Khadki Cantonment Board. Another three plans had come up before the cantonment board for sanction during the same period including 70 New Bazaar, Neeta Apartments, 497, Akashdeep and 490, Mehta Towers.

However, none of these buildings were located in any high risk area. After the imposition of the FSI restrictions, however, there was little scope for high rise buildings in the cantonment. In 1988, however, the cantonment board consisting of Prakash Hiwarkar, Gilbert Pinto and Dominic Lobo had suddenly discovered that Shewale had gone ahead and constructed five to six illegal godowns and shops in the parking lot. The board issued notices to the owner under Section 274 of the Cantonments Act. But Shewale approached the court and managed to obtain a stay.

Significantly, cantonment board was seriously considering an increase in the heights of buildings from the existing 18 metres. The proposal sent by the board to increase the FSI from the current 1 to 2 in civil areas and from 0.5 to 1 in bungalow areas was rejected by the Southern Command headquarters.