CIDCO HAS NO RECORD OF LAND ACQUISITIONS, RTI QUERY REVEALS

CBD BELAPUR: The City and Industrial Development Corporation Ltd ( Cidco) has no record of land acquisition notifications issued by the state government for developing Navi Mumbai, a Right To Information (RTI) query has revealed.

RTI activist Vikas Patil from Gothivali had filed the petition seeking details of the land acquisition circular containing conditions and rules pertaining to acquisition of land from villages in Raigad and Thane districts for development of the city.

According to Cidco’s reply, it has no record of land acquisition circulars on the basis of which the farmers’ land had been acquired in the city.

Patil said that he would file a petition in court against the lackadaisical attitude of Cidco officials. The state government had acquired land admeasuring 343.7 sq metres from 95 villages in Thane and Raigad districts and transferred them to Cidco.

Of the acquired land, 17,000 hectares fall under the jurisdiction of the forest department and the government. As per the resolution on land acquisition, Cidco is the owner of the acquired land.

As per the circular, the planning agency had started development of the city in 1971 but it failed to keep its record, said RTI activist.