The Hindu 07.04.2013
Illegal structures abound
Mumbra alone had 218 of the over 400 illegal constructions in Corporation limits
In the last winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly
in 2012, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik submitted information on the
mushrooming illegal construction in Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC),
demanding an enquiry against Municipal Commissioner R.A. Rajeev.
Mr.
Sarnaik, who represents Thane in the Assembly, accessed information
from TMC on illegal buildings through the Right to Information Act in
December 2012, which indicated the scale of the problem. For the nine
divisions under the corporation last year, 505 illegal buildings were
demolished, there was action against 829 (which does not mean they were
demolished), and in December, 2012 alone, 104 illegal constructions were
detected. The year round 146 buildings were given notices, and 53 cases
of violations were filed under the Maharashtra Regional and Town
Planning Act and 83 cases registered under the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation Act.
Mumbra alone had 218 of the over 400
illegal structures in the Corporation limits, Mr. Sarnaik said. His
demand for an enquiry against Mr. Rajeev was scuttled. While the TMC
says illegal buildings were demolished or given stop work notices, in
reality nothing happens. The buildings were rarely brought down and
people continued to live there.
Two officials suspended
While
the Opposition ranted against the builder-politician nexus in the
Assembly on Friday, forcing suspensions of two officials, even the
judiciary has been ignored in Thane. According to the government
submission in the Bombay High Court, the entire Thane district has
around 4.90 lakh illegal structures, which are buildings, chawls, shops
and slums. Thane city, which has a population of about 25 lakh,
reportedly has 2 lakh such illegal structures. No action has been taken
against them, in spite of the fact that the court ordered demolition of
all the illegal structures in 2010. The government immediately nullified
the court order by declaring that pre-2001 structures would not be
demolished. Mr. Rajeev on Saturday admitted that 90 per cent buildings
in Mumbra are were illegal. “We are doing what we can,” he said.
The
State government in January 2005 issued a government resolution (GR),
asking eight municipal corporations to use ‘Remote Sensing Technology’
to spot illegal structures, encroachments that result due to increasing
urbanization.
The municipal corporations include the
TMC which according to the GR was supposed to set up such a mechanism by
February 28, 2005. Neither the TMC nor any of the other corporations
have begun their work till today, revealed RTI activist and general
secretary of Dharmarajya Paksha Raju Phanse.
As per
the GR the satellite images of area under the jurisdiction of a
Municipal Corporation should be analysed every six months, which will
help in identifying the change in land use and proper action can be
taken. The ward officer has been authorised by this GR to take actions
against the illegal structures. In the backdrop of the building collapse
in Mumbra area in TMC, the activists are demanding that the GR be
implemented immediately.