Chief minister Ashok Chavan puts an end to Vasai-Virar furore

The furious row over the demand to exclude 53 villages near Vasai from the proposed Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation may soon end. The state government on Wednesday accepted the exclusion of 30 of the 53 villages and assured that a final decision on the remaining 23 villages would be taken before the budget session on March 18.

The state government has also accepted that the election for the municipal corporation would not be held till a final solution was drawn on the issue.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan held a meeting with Vasai MLA Vivek Pandit, who is in the forefront of the agitation to exclude the villages, at his residence Varsha on Wednesday night.

“Chavan said 30 of the 53 villages would be excluded and the demands of the rest of the 23 villages would be addressed later. But, I opposed the proposal because 16 of the 23 villages fall under the green zone,” Pandit told DNA.

At the meeting, Pandit also demanded that the Vasai municipal council continue to exist. “I emphasised that the council should be allowed to carry out development works. It can be merged with the municipal corporation after some time,” Pandit said, adding, “The government did not listen to our demands till there was a violent agitation,” Pandit said.

Pandit was on a hunger strike last week to press his demand to exclude 53 villages. On March 5, the police forcefully admitted him to the Thane civil hospital. The police action had led to violence in Vasai resulting in damage to pubic property.