4 illegal buildings razed in Panvel

Eight families rendered homeless; residents of buildings plan to file cases against developers

Four buildings in Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), which were allegedly located on tribal land, were demolished by City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) on Wednesday.

The four buildings, two of which were built by a developer and the other two by locals, had come up in Bhagwati Pada in Adai village of Panvel.

“A developer, Atiq Syed Mallick, had started the construction of a three-storey and a four-storey building on the tribal land two years ago. We had issued notices to him a year ago terming the construction illegal and asking him not to sell flats in the building,” said Subhash Gosavi, an official from Cidco’s Controller of unauthorised construction department.

“Another notice was served a month ago to the developer and the four to five families residing in the building. Since they did not pay heed to the notices, we demolished the two buildings and two others in the area.”

Eight families living in the buildings were rendered homeless due to the action.

“We paid Rs12 lakh for the flat in the building,” said resident Ramnath Patil.

Residents of the buildings are planning to file cases against the developers.

“The developer misled us. We had no clue that this was an illegal construction. We are planning to file a police complaint against the developer for cheating us,” said Patil.

“I had got possession of the flat last Friday and the interior work was going on. All my savings are gone,” said Shaikh Nasser Mohammed, a former BMC employee.

“Why was this action not taken earlier when we had not

invested our money? Action should be taken against the Cidco officials involved,” said Mohammed.

Unauthorised structures have mushroomed in the city in the past few years.

The planning agency has stepped up action against illegal buildings and encroachments in the past few months, following the high court order.

It had warned of filing first information report against officials found guilty of being involved in illegal constructions.

PHOTOS: BACHCHAN KUMAR A bulldozer demolishes one of the four buildings in Bhagwat Pada in Ada village of Panvel on Wednesday. (Right) A cop keeps guard as officials carry out demolition work.