Mumbai Mirror: Mumbai: Monday, May 29, 2017.
A land parcel in Khandala, which belongs to Bolly
wood producer-director Rakesh Roshan and his actor son Hrithik, is under
scrutiny after it has emerged that it engulfs a sizeable portion of reserved
government land, including a plot meant for a burial ground.
The information came to light following a query
under the Right to Information (RTI) Act regarding the plot, measuring over
15,000 sq mt, which the Roshans purchased in December last year under the name
of one of their companies, `Sunder Bhawar Holiday Homes Pvt Ltd', for around Rs
30 crore.
Kiran Gaikwad, a former Congress president of
Khandala area who filed the RTI query, said one of the plots -survey number
181B, Maval Taluka, measuring 504 sq mt -belonged to the state government,
while another plot, survey number 182, was marked for a burial ground.
"Both the land parcels are located within the Roshans' plot," Gaikwad
said, "I accessed all documents pertaining to the plots in and around the
one recently bought by Sunder Bhawar Holiday Homes, and was stunned to find
that two government plots have been usurped by the company while demarcating
and getting a boundary wall sanctioned around their area." He said he has
approached the Lonavla Municipal Council to take back the two plots from the Roshans.
He further said till recently, a balwadi and a couple of shrines stood on the
government plot which were "hurriedly demolished". Around 30 families
also resided there, Gaikwad said.
Rakesh and Hrithik Roshan remained unavailable for
comments, not responding to messages or calls. An official spokesperson and
in-charge of the project on the site, Shakir Shaikh, said Sunder Bhawar Holiday
Homes hadn't indulged in any illegalities. "We completed the legal
formalities and started building the compound wall.There has been no violation.
If government plots were merged with ours, why didn't the authority claim it?
There was a mention of open space reservation but it belongs to our
client," Shaikh said, even as Gaikwad said he will seek an appointment
with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to sort out the matter.
Documents revealed the Roshans bought the plot on
December 19, 2016 and the proposal to construct a compound wall approved by the
Lonavla Municipal Council on February 9 this year. A no-objection certificate
was granted by the MSRDC on April 3, 2017.
The Lonavala municipal chief executive officer,
Sachin Pawar, said the council will scrutinise the documents but he won't be
able to comment further at this stage as he was busy preparing for the CM's
visit next week.