Urban News

Hindustan Times  29.10.2010

For the members of the New Link Residents Forum, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) brought a surprise on Thursday. It was a pleasant one because they did not think that the civic body would act so quickly on their complaint against an illegal structure in their area. Following a report in Hindustan Times on October 28, the BMC demolished the temporary shed and a concrete patch built on the agricultural land near IC Colony in Borivli.

Residents had alleged that the land, which falls in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), was being used to construct a car showroom.

“The shed was illegal because there was no official permission to construct it. It was in a no-development zone,” said Parag Masurkar, assistant municipal commissioner, R-North ward.

HT had reported that members of the residents’ forum had seen fresh debris being dumped on the plot on Wednesday. They alleged that a dealer of an automobile company was using the plot to build a showroom.

They wrote to state environment secretary Valsa Nair Singh, collector Nirmal Deshmukh and deputy commissioner of police (Zone XI) Sharda Raut.

“The civic body acted very quickly and demolished the structures in the afternoon. But we will have to continue to be vigilant,” said Harish Pandey, a member of the forum.

Pandey said the land sharks had intended to convert the agricultural land into non-agricultural and build structures on it.

“If all citizens are vigilant and there is good coordination with the authorities, the city is bound to change,” added Pandey.