Police drive to look for missing children will start from January 1 Cidco demolishes five illegal buildings in 2 days

Several children who have gone missing may find help soon as the Navi Mumbai police will begin the second part of Operation Smile from January 1.

After the success of ‘Operation Smile 1’ in July, the police will again speed up the process of finding missing children.

Operation Smile 1 was a month-long central government initiative to find missing children and hand them over to parents and guardians.

According to police commissioner Prabhat Ranjan, “During the special drive, we will once again collect information on the children who have gone missing or run away from their house.” The police plan to take the help of the media too.

The drive is conducted throughout the country on the directives of the central government and the Supreme Court.

“We will take pictures and details of all children found at orphanages, with NGOs, at railway stations, bus terminals, begging on streets or at traffic signals, selling wares, rag-pickers or working at places of worship or other places,” said Ranjan.

He said, “They will all be considered as missing children and their photographs and details will be posted on the website www.trackthemissingchild. com.”

Ranjan said the children found during the operation will be presented before the child welfare committee with their complete details. Once the parents give proof that the child is theirs, the committee will hand the child over to them after following the prescribed norms.

The police commissionerate will hold a briefing session on the entire operation for its personnel on Thursday.

“They will be given details of the Acts concerning children, the process that have to be followed, the rights of the police and the steps they need to take on finding a child,” said Ranjan. “While our personnel will be on the field looking for missing children, we will also solicit the support of the media so that most children can be sent back home.”

Continuing the drive against illegal structures, City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) demolished three buildings in Ghansoli node on Tuesday and two structures on Wednesday.

Following the high court’s order and directions of Yogesh Mhase, additional collector and chief controller of unauthorised construction, Cidco conducted the demolition drive amid protests by residents.

The police officers had a tough time controlling the protests as women brought their children along to stop the demolition.

According to Cidco chief public relations officer Mohan Ninawe, “The structures demolished by Cidco included a two-storeyed building built by Krishna Patil and developer Santosh Rajput built on an area of around 1,200 sqm. The second was a four-storeyed structure built by Bharat Pandurang Patil on an area of around 550 sqm. The third was also a four-storey building built by Kisan Shiva Patil on an area of 130 sqm.”

He said, “The structures were constructed on Cidco land without any land title and development permission. Cidco was following due process in removing the encroachment.”

The drive was carried by a team of Controller of Unauthortised Constructions (CUC) led by PB Rajput and EM Menon.

The demolition team was assisted by senior inspector

Bulldozers raze illegal structures in Sector 16, Ghansoli, on Tuesday. of Rabale police station Chandrakant Katkar, 11 police officers and 54 police personnel along with two strike force.