Times of India: Nagpur: Tuesday, March 31, 2015.
The inaction of officials from ULC department and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) goes to prove their nexus with the high-profile developer who constructed a posh lawn for functions on plots meant for construction of tenements for people from weaker section. Developer Sanjay Agrawal and his family members are not facing any action even though all officials are aware about their brazen violations.
TOI had on March exposed the lawn constructed on area of 72 plots released by the state government for construction of tenements for weaker section people under ULC's Talegaon Dabhade scheme. The officials of ULC department and NMC knew about the brazen violations even before the TOI expose.
ULC department additional collector Vinay Moon and NMC executive engineer Mahesh Gupta had assured to initiate action when the TOI asked them about the violations.
However, asked about the status of the case on Monday, Moon said action was yet to be taken by the ULC department. "I was busy with some other works so could not initiate action. Department has to inspect the site and make spot panchnama before taking action. We will initiate necessary action soon," he said.
Gupta did not respond to TOI's calls. NMC sources told TOI no action has been taken by NMC's town planning department.
RTI activist TH Naidu told TOI the ULC department is known for protecting violators and this was not the first case. "I also went to the ULC department and informed them about the violations. But the department did not take any action. Two years ago I happened to expose similar case at Khamla. A residential complex was built on land meant for weaker section. But no action has been taken as on date despite lodging many complaints," he said.
NMC too is supposed to initiate action since lawn cannot be developed on residential plots. Besides, the NMC town planning department had not released the plots to the owner. The layout's open space was also not handed over to NMC. Yet, NMC is not taking any action against the lawn developer.
Actually, NMC town planning department itself had violated some norms. TOI had highlighted how amalgamation of 72 plots into four plots was allowed in violation of the ULC Act norms and the government's directives.
The government had declared the area of 72 plots as surplus under ULC Act. The government was supposed to construct tenements for weaker section people. But the government handed over the land to the earlier owner Rajaram Dhanwate, after he applied to develop tenements for people from weaker sections. Then the government had approved layout on the area on April 21, 2003. An area measuring 88,069.33 sq ft was divided into 72 plots. The owner was supposed to either sell the plots or construct and distribute tenements for people from weaker sections within two years from April 21, 2003.
Naidu added that the ULC department should have taken back the land from owner and ensure tenements were built for the weaker section. "The government has made it clear in the approval that the land would be taken back in case of any violations," he said.
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