You cannot trust the BMC or anyone. Read the article on how they do things illegally for their personal benefit. BMC is now like a private organisation and not a public utility Organisation. Enough evidence to dissolve this body. BMC clears building on ‘mangrove land’ Linah Baliga, TNN | Apr 22, 2013 The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has granted a controversial builder the permission to build on a mangrove plot in Oshiwara-Lokhandwala area despite the land being at the heart of a pending public interest litigation and a chargesheet. An executive engineer in BMCs building proposal department, P G Deshpande, reportedly issued a commencement certificate (CC) on April 6 to the SAVE developer to construct on a 7,741-sq-m land adjacent to Oshiwara Creek.Lying between Lokhandwala bridge and Lokhandwala Club, the plot comes under the Coastal Regulatory Zone-1 category, according to local activists, which means that no construction should be allowed on it. Alarmed by the development, the Oshiwara Lokhandwala Citizens Association (OLCA) sent a legal notice on April 16 to civic chief Sitaram Kunte and Deshpande. The associations advocate Gayatri Singh stated in the notice: it is surprising...that while on one hand the matter (in court) has been adjourned on several occasions to enable the BMC to file its reply, the BMC has gone ahead and granted CC to construct the proposed building. It is surprising that this CC has been granted in spite of a chargesheet being filed against the developer subsequent to (an) FIR having been filed for destroying mangroves, which the developer sought to quash and failed, added Singh, who is also a resident of the area. Last year, the same developer had allegedly dumped debris on the same plot and stored construction material there, prompting protests. Urged by locals, state environment secretary Valsa Nair Singh had set up an inquiry under the suburban collector, who filed an FIR against the builder. At the same time, a PIL was filed in the case. As a result of this struggle by locals, the debris was removed from the plot and part of the mangroves saved. Now, however, locals fear that their fight is being subverted. OLCA chairperson Ashoke Pandit said, The BMC had taken action against the builder last year. We now want municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte to intervene and suspend the concerned officers (who granted permission to the developer). On Sunday, TOI tried contacting Deshpande and Kunte, but the executive engineers cellphone was found switched off and the municipal chief could not be reached. A senior official in BMCs building proposal department said of the grant of commencement certificate: There cannot be such a glaring anomaly. Ill look into the matter. TOI had carried reports on January 4, 2012, and March 20, 2012, highlighting residents attempts at, and success in, ousting the developer from the plot and saving a big swathe of mangrove land from illegal construction. Residents say the land falls under CRZ-I category according to Maharshtra Coastal Zone Management Authority maps as well as Wetland Atlas, which was prepared by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:56:41 +0000
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