Residents dont trust BMC, fight own mangrove battle ……Geeta Desai
Force police, BMC to trace the builder who ordered dumping of debris in the area
Force police, BMC to trace the builder who ordered dumping of debris in the area
Yari Road residents have prepared themselves for a lengthy battle to save their mangroves and open spaces. On Wednesday, they got nine persons arrested for dumping debris in the mangrove area, and have vowed to not stop till the unidentified builder, who had instructed the dumping, is brought to justice.
According to the FIR, 25 people began filling up the mangrove area with boulder-like stones, debris and soft mud on Wednesday night. Nine trucks were used to bring in the material. The workers were first spotted by Mamata Rao, a resident of Park Plaza. She alerted the other residents who rushed to the spot. After a verbal altercation between workers and residents, the cops were called, following which 16 workers escaped from the spot.
By that time, BMC officials too had arrived there. Park Plaza residents say almost one-third of the mangroves area was damaged. Park Plaza resident B S Nagesh, vice-chairman of a leading department stores chain, said, Wednesday nights dumping was part of a plan to kill the mangroves. It is a clear case of land grabbing. We will not tolerate any damage to the only green lung in our area.
Film director Shashi Ranjan, president of the Yari Road Residents Trust, said they had asked the BMC permission five years ago to adopt the plot, but were denied. We filled up the tenders and went through the procedures but were still denied, Ranjan said.
He insisted that there was no looking back in the fight against land-grabbers. A resident, Dharamjit Singh, said the BMC is not serious enough to protect open spaces in the area. He said, We will not rest till the offenders are punished.
The BMC insists all procedures are being followed. Ramesh Pawar, assistant commissioner of K-West Ward, under whose jurisdiction Yari Road comes, said Rs 1.8 lakh-penalty was recovered from the dump trucks owners. We are tracing the builder who ordered the dumping, he said. ACP Amitabh Gupta too assured that offenders will not get off lightly. We will pursue the matter and book all offenders, he said.
RESIDENT SPEAK
* When we tried to stop the workers (from dumping the debris), they were rude… confident that nobody could come in their way. One of them told us the BMC and the police know what they were doing. It was blatant land-grabbing – MINAL MISRA
* We are determined to protect our mangroves area and open spaces. We have braced for a long fight – PREETI AHUJA
* We are ready to take care of the green space, but the BMC has refused to hand it over to us SHASHI RANJAN
* We are ready to take care of the green space, but the BMC has refused to hand it over to us SHASHI RANJAN
– The mangrove area at Yari Road
– On Wednesday, Park Plaza residents got nine persons arrested for dumping debris in the mangrove