572 illegal buildings on Cidco list will soon face bulldozers

DEMOLITION DRIVE Ghansoli tops with 226 constructions; Panvel and surrounding villages have 100

After demolishing several illegal constructions and removing squatters, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) will intensify its drive. This time, however, it will look at other areas beyond Digha.

The town planning agency has issued a new list of 572 illegal buildings which have across the city in the past few months. Ghansoli tops the list with 226 constructions.

However, officials said they might start action in Panvel first as they are in hurry to hand over plots to the airport project-affected people (PAP).

According to the list, there are nearly 100 such illegal buildings in Panvel and the peripheral areas such as Kalunde, Karanjade and Wadgha villages.

“Due to encroachment, the work of handing over plots to PAP is getting delayed. Therefore, when it comes to demolition of the illegal constructions, Panvel is our priority for now,” said a Cidco official.

Of the total 572 buildings, some are still under construction. A majority of them are being used for residential and commercial purpose.

“During the drive in Digha, residents opposed it as many people were going to be homeless. Therefore, in the new list, we have mentioned the names of the people who constructed the illegal buildings and the area,” the official said.

“This way, people get to know the reality before buying a house or shop in those buildings. In spite of that if someone buys a flat there, we should not be held responsible for that,” he added.

Last week, Cidco had issued notices against 27 illegal constructions and demolished 17 of them. There was strong opposition against the drive, but they managed it with the help of local police.

Meanwhile, both Cidco and MIDC have been carrying out demolition drive following the directions of the high court. MIDC and Cidco had begun a crackdown on 99 unauthorised buildings in Digha after the Bombay high court directed the municipal corporation to remove all such structures.

The Bombay high court had asked the Navi Mumbai police to investigate the role of officials from different agencies in the illegal structures case.

In most of the cases, Rabale police registered cheating and forgery case under sections 420, 120 (B) and 406, along with, other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.