After 41 illegal buildings were demolished in the Vasai-Virar region, on Supreme Court order, as they had been built on land reserved for sewage treatment plant and dumping ground, local activists have questioned the double standards of the Vasai Virar city municipal corporation (VVCMC), pointing out that some other similar structures remain untouched. They said several families in the razed buildings have been rendered homeless.
The activists said VVCMC issues notices to illegal structures but often does not raze them. And in cases where demolition is carried out, the structures often resurface. According to activists, the civic body should demolish at least the illegal structures it has mentioned in its list submitted to Bombay high court.
“Be it industrial units in Nalasopara or dhabas on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway (NH48), VVCMC has itself submitted a list while replying to my PIL, but no action has been taken yet,” activist Terence Hendriques said. He cited Ayesha, Qureshi and Umar compounds in Nalasopara as examples of industrial units dealing in hazardous chemicals without any fear of VVCMC or Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.
Hendriques added that he has submitted a list of over 30 dhabas and eateries that dot NH48 to VVCMC, but it has not acted yet. More shocking, he said, was the fire brigade’s clearance to the eateries.
Deepak Rao, another activist who has filed a PIL in the National Green Tribunal alleging dumping of construction debris and sand in natural water bodies in Vasai, said illegal constructions continue unabated at the spot under the lens. He said while hundreds of families have been displaced and are forced to stay in slums, the illegal buildings continue to stay. In most of the cases, the corporation doesn’t even file MRTP (Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act) suit against developers, he said.
According to advocate Vijay Kurle, Bombay HC had taken suo motu cognisance when VVCMC submitted a list of illegal constructions but did not take action against all of them.
He further said no illegal construction comes up overnight and it was the duty of officers to nail it the moment it’s observed. Last week, the high court had given three weeks to VVCMC to submit an affidavit as it is under an obligation to consider the feasibility of rehabilitating the families displaced by the demolition of the 41 illegal buildings in Agarwal Nagari, Vasai east. The court gave three weeks after an urgent PIL was filed by advocate Chetan Bhoir.
