Legal or not, party candidates seem to be pulling out all the stops this poll season. Residents of Magathane in Borivli (East) have exposed sitting MLA and MNS candidate Pravin Darekar. The state is currently under president's rule while the poll process is on.
The residents have alleged blatant disregard on Darekar's part for the law to woo the area's voters by funding an illegal structure adjoining a masjid on a 'No Development Zone'.
Several complaints and correspondences to all authorities concerned did not yield any results. At the initial stage, the police and civic officials did take cognisance of the matter and stopped the work. However, residents allege, they stopped taking further action at Darekar's behest. Work continued under a tarpaulin and plastic sheets, which kept the structure covered. Later, the residents realised that the money pumped in for the marriage hall adjoining the mosque was from the MLA's fund.
Residents complained that the common people pay property taxes worth Rs20 lakh annually, along with interest on home loans throughout their lives, whereas netas brazenly break laws. "When we raise an objection, they play the communal card and also threaten with a law and order situation," said a resident.
While repeated attempts to contact Darekar failed, civic officials from R-central ward office in Borivli (West) confirmed that no plan was submitted by the MLA for this structure. "The residents' allegations are valid as the illegal structure stands on a 'No Development Zone' plot," an official said.
"We have been resisting the expansion of illegal structures in the area for quite a while. We have knocked on the doors of corporators and MLAs and also civic authorities. As the structure was funded by the MLA, we sought Darekar's help to put a stop to it. However, to our surprise, he himself was present at the time of inauguration of the work, that too after the code of conduct was imposed," said another resident.
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