VASAI: The suspension of assistant municipal commissioner, Mohan Sankhe, earlier this month for allegedly agreeing to accept Rs 2 lakh and then another Rs 1 lakh, in a viral audio clip, has once again exposed the alleged nexus between the illegal construction mafia and a few officers of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC).
Since its inception in 2009, the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) has been unable to control the mushrooming of illegal constructions in Vasai Taluka, alleges 30-year-old social activist Terence Hendriques, whose PIL in High Court forced the VVCMC to put boards outside illegal schools warning the parents. He alleged that the VVCMC usually does not follow court orders.
“They have not gone aggressive on demolishing the illegal constructions in this city. Even now there are so many illegal schools in Vasai taluka, which do not have a warning board (informing the public that the school is illegal) or the displayed warning board has been removed by miscreants.
The VVCMC has even failed to protect their own reservation plots as a lot of them have been encroached to build chawls and the poor will lose their hard-earned savings some day or the other,” he said. Terence lives in Nalasopara and is into real estate business. Terence is more concerned on how casually the court orders are ignored by the VVCMC officials.
Lifetime savings of the poor have been looted by the land mafia as they sell 150-200 square feet units in load bearing buildings and chawls illegally constructed and vanish, while these poor are left helpless while the VVCMC demolishes their dream home, activists say. “The illegal construction mafia does not spare any type of land and encroach the river beds.
They level the hills to the ground, usurp corporation and revenue reservations, pollute eco-sensitive zones and butcher mangroves. Even the area surrounding the 220kv & 110kv Extra High Voltage (EHV) lines is not spared,” said an activist.
During the hearing of a petition regarding illegal construction, the Bombay High Court observed that there were around 9,000 illegal structures, whereas the activists have claimed that the number is around 12,000. Vasai is a coastal belt blessed with more than half-a-dozen scenic beaches, the world famous Vasai Fort, centuries old Buddha Stupa and temples, a perfect tourism destination but has always been in the news for illegal constructions and incidents of crime.
Currently, Vasai taluka is in news for the ongoing demolition of 41 illegal buildings built on reservation plots for a dumping ground and a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), displacing hundreds of families. A former local corporator is said to be behind the construction of these illegal buildings.
Naigaon-based activist Ramavtar Yadav has been complaining to the revenue officials about mangroves being allegedly destroyed by the former corporator over a land parcel of an acre or two, wherein chawls have been constructed.
He says that first the environment is irrevocably degraded by destroying mangroves, and when these chawls get demolished, the environment gets hit again. Moreover, it’s the same person who is behind activities like constructing illegal buildings and chawls.
Dipak Sawant, deputy municipal corporation (DMC) who heads the Controller Unauthorised Construction (CUC) department, said that demolition of illegal constructions is an ongoing process and sometimes the staff even works on a Sunday. He confirmed that every ward officer is made the designated officer of this CUC and is provided with the required manpower.
The ward officer audits his jurisdiction and takes action against the illegal construction. The CUC is divided into two zones, North and South. While Sawant leads the South Zone, he currently has the charge of the North zone as well.
Another activist, Chandu Vijay Patil, Virar resident, and Nalasopara office-bearer of the Prahar Janskati Paksh has been running from pillar to post to get encroachments surrounding the 220kv and 110kv high tension multi-circuit transmission line (commonly known as high tension lines or extra high voltage lines) removed. He has visited the Palghar collector’s office and the VVCMC office multiple times but the action is still awaited.
The Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) has issued reminders to both the VVCMC commissioner as well as the palghar collector. In all the letters, written by the MSETCL to the Palghar Collector and the VVCMC, the MSETCL has confirmed that power supply to Mumbai could be disrupted if any incident concerning the illegal encroachments surrounding these towers takes place.
