Times of India: Mumbai: Tuesday,
March 04, 2014.
It has come
to light through a Right To Information (RTI) application that in the fast
developing Digha ward, there are 86 buildings of four to six stories
constructed illegally on government land belonging to authorities such as
Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), City and Industrial
Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (Cidco) and other state owned
plots.
"It is
rather surprising and strange that there are in all 86 new buildings built
illegally on state government land, but the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation
(NMMC) has not done anything about it," said the Navi Mumbai based RTI
activist Rajeev Mishra.
He fears that
these illegal structures may be regularised through the process of cluster
development in future; which is unfair for the honest tax paying citizens.
Through his
RTI application on the subject, Mishra has also found out that NMMC's latest
survey report has properly listed the individual names of these illegal
structures in Digha ward, which is close to the Thane Belapur Road in Airoli.
Mishra added
that of the 86 illegal buildings here, a whopping 56 structures (65.11%) are
standing on land owned by MIDC; while the remaining 30 buildings are
constructed on state and Cidco owned plots.
"How did
these illegal buildings in Digha get occupation certificates, water and
electricity connections? And this is just one ward of NMMC; so one can imagine
how many more such unauthorised constructions exist in the satellite
city," commented Mishra.
He added that
one such illegal building of six storeys, Keru Plaza, has come up right in
front of the Digha municipal ward office, which is ironical.
The deputy
municipal commissioner in-charge of encroachments and demolitions, Aziz Shaikh,
told TOI: "For taking action on illegal buildings, the due process of law
(DPL) will have to be followed. There will have to be verification,
correspondence with other agencies. At present, I am not aware of the exact
situation on this subject at Digha."
Around two years
ago, NMMC had started speeding up the development of the Digha ward area, which
was earlier neglected part of Airoli node.
However,
considering the rate at which new buildings (both residential and commercial)
are coming up here now, Mishra has urged for a thorough scrutiny of the land
records to ensure that these are built on legal plots.
"Such
illegal tall structures cannot come up without the connivance of certain local
leaders and officials. I am going to file an affidavit on my RTI findings before
the Bombay high court, where my public interest litigation (PIL) has been
admitted in 2013," added the activist.
The next
court hearing on his PIL is on March 4.
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