Long march to seek exclusion of Maharashtra villages from civic body

People in 35 villages in Vasai region of adjoining Thane district today reached Mumbai as part of a 100-km march to Vidhan Bhawan to demand their villages be kept out of the proposed Vasai-Virar municipal corporation.

The march comprised tribals, farmers and kolis (fishermen), along with cows, buffaloes and goats. It was led by Vivek Pandit, independent MLA from Vasai.

"The 35 villages should be delinked from the proposed Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. The demand has been pending since three years," he said.

Last year, the state government had announced that the 35 villages would be excluded from the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation and on April 5, 2010, issued a preliminary notification on the issue but no action has been taken, he said.