DEFENCE MINISTRY REDUCES CONSTRUCTION RESTRICTIONS AROUND JUHU SIGNAL STATION

For nearly five decades, land within 500 yards of the Signal Transmitting Station at Juhu was subject to restrictions under the Works of Defence Act, 1903. That position has now changed.

By S.R.O. 36(E) dated 3 August 2026, published in the Official Gazette on 4 August 2026, the Ministry of Defence has confined the affected area to land within 100 metres from the crest of the outer parapet of the station.

The notification supersedes S.R.O. 150 dated 15 May 1976, published in the Gazette of India on 19 June 1976, which applied to land within 500 yards, or approximately 457 metres, of the station. The result is a substantial reduction in the area governed by the restrictions, although their nature remains unchanged within the revised 100-metre boundary.

Section 3 of the Works of Defence Act empowers the Central Government to impose restrictions upon the use and enjoyment of land in the vicinity of a work of defence where this is necessary to keep the land free from buildings and other obstructions. A declaration published under Section 3 is conclusive proof of that necessity.

The 2026 notification continues the restrictions specified in Section 7(c), the most stringent category under the Act. Section 7(c) prohibits any building or other construction on the surface, and any excavation, building or other construction below the surface, from being maintained or erected. Its proviso permits the Commanding Officer to approve the maintenance of an existing surface structure and to exempt open railings and dry brushwood fences from the prohibition, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed. It does not generally permit the erection of a new building.

The distances mentioned in Section 7 do not operate automatically around every defence establishment. They prescribe the maximum limits within which the Central Government may impose the different categories of restrictions. The land actually affected must be identified in the notification issued under Section 3.

In the case of Juhu, the new notification describes the affected land as:

“All the land comprised in the area lying within a distance of one hundred meters from the crest of the outer parapet of the Signal Transmitting Station, Juhu, Mumbai.”

The notification does not prescribe a separate outer boundary under Section 7(a) or a second boundary under Section 7(b). Those restrictions apply within the notified 100-metre area because they are incorporated into Section 7(c), but do not independently extend beyond it.

Accordingly, land situated beyond 100 metres is no longer subject to the restrictions imposed by the Juhu notification merely because it fell within the earlier 500-yard area. Within 100 metres, however, the prohibition under Section 7(c) continues. New surface and underground construction remains prohibited, while an existing surface structure may be maintained only with the written approval of the Commanding Officer.

The restrictions came into force on 4 August 2026. The notification also records that a sketch plan of the affected land may be inspected at the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer, Buildings and Roads, Santa Cruz, Mumbai District.

By replacing the earlier 500-yard area with a 100-metre boundary, the notification removes a long-standing impediment affecting a considerable number of properties around the station. This should provide a significant impetus to development and redevelopment in Juhu.