At least 30 illegally built bungalows owned by businessmen and Bollywood personalities along the city's coast are up for demolition, sources in the civic body say.

While most of the buildings are located in the Madh Island in north Mumbai, a few are located in the plush Juhu area as well, these sources say. Most of these structures are routinely rented out to film and television crews for shootings.

With the civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) detecting a number of irregularities, including illegal constructions, violation of fire safety norms and the like, the structures are likely to come under the hammer soon, the sources say.

The state government is believed to have given the go-ahead to carry out large-scale demolitions of illegal structures regardless of who owns it.

On Wednesday alone, the civic body brought down 37 commercial structures and 975 slums that were constructed illegally in Mumbai. the structures demolished include some of Mumbai's favourite nightspots and watering holes like the upmarket Seijo and the Soul Dish, a restaurant frequented by the rich and famous.

Officials say these structures violated fire safety norms and were often put up without municipal permission.

Two months ago, the civic body targeted a cowshed put up illegally by actor-turned-MP Govinda. The structure adjoining his suburban bungalow was fortified with bricks and mortar. Govinda himself pulled down the structure after demolition notices were sent to him.

The state government ordered the illegal constructions of the rich to be demolished after a long slum clearance drive in the city.

So far the government has not budged from pressure by high profile corporate groups in the city.

The authorities decided to crack down on buildings and commercial establishments after allegations that only the poor slum dwellers were targeted in a major clean up drive in Mumbai.

More than 50,000 slum clusters alleged built on public land were demolished in the city. However, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil ordered a crackdown on well-heeled violators as well in order appear even-handed.

The BMC, which began its demolition drive late last year, has so far cleared 316 plots of land spread across the city. Many of these would be handed over to the corporate sector for purposes of beautification.

The state government says the major clean up exercise in Mumbai would free up land for infrastructure projects in the city. Most of these are schemes to widen arterial roads that have been blocked up slums.

Under the government's proposal, all slums in Mumbai that came up after Jan 1, 1995, are to be demolished. Slum dwellers living in shanties constructed before that date are eligible for rehabilitation under government schemes.