Encroachments thrive on corruption, lack of pol will…..Sandhya Nair
MUMBAI: There are 22,335 illegal structures in the Vasai-Virar belt and another 13,916 in Mira Road-Bhayander . Since 2005, only 1,250 encroachments have been demolished幼orruption and lack of political will, say activists, are to blame.
After the NGO Harit Vasai Saurakshan Samiti filed a petition against illegal constructions nearly five years ago, local government bodies in the Vasai-Virar and Mira Road-Bhayander belts began to issue show-cause notices to illegal structures. Encroachers made a beeline for tehsildar offices and civic wards, paying huge amounts in bribes to ensure that their structures were at the bottom of the ‘demolition list’ , thus buying time to obtain a stay from the lower courts.
Encroachers managed to obtain over 2,000 stay orders against demolitions . Though the government informed the HC that it will begin razing residential illegal structures this month, officials and activists remain sceptical.
According to sources, political pressure to stall demolitions will not abate. “Almost every encroacher who has been issued a showcause notice is armed with a letter from a politician to stall the demolition ,” said a senior civic official of the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC).
In April, portions of a five-storey tower at Nityanand Nagar, Mira Road was demolished by MBMC. Three months later, construction work on the residential building continues in full swing. In July, the Vasai tehsildar K Badane was transferred after he issued notices to 13,944 illegal structures on government land. He had drawn up a demolition chart that was to be completed by December 2010. The work in the Vasai region is still to take off.
MBMC blames the delay on the lack of police bandobast. “We have been undertaking demolition of ground plus one commercial structures without police protection,” said a senior civic official.
Even as they are being accused of corruption, civic officials say it’s the local police who are accepting bribes. “In the case of massive demolition drive, civic workers refuse to raze structures without police protection,” said the civic official. Sources told TOI that the demolition work is unlikely to begin in either of these belts before Dassera.