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| Edited By: Archana Dahiwal |Source: DNA |Updated: Aug 05, 2012, 06:37 PM IST
With the Pune police busy in investigations and security arrangement duties after the series of blasts in the city on Wednesday, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) anti-encroachment demolition drive seems to have taken a back seat for the time being.
The civic body has postponed its drive which was to start on Monday as commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi had said the civic body required police protection for the drive.
However, the civic officials have decided to file First Information Reports (FIR) against illegal constructions from Monday.
Pardeshi said, “Since the police personnel are busy after the recent blasts in Pune, we have postponed the actions for the time being.”
Pardeshi added, “We will make site visits and accordingly documentation of illegal structures will be done.”
The civic chief said that the PCMC will start sending legal notices to owners of the illegal structures about demolition from Monday.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar recently clarified that the PCMC should follow the high court order. He also instructed the civic administration to stop providing basic amenities to illegal structures.
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Anna Bansode and party sponsored MLAs Laxman Jagtap and Vilas Lande have threatened to move the court against the anti-encroachment drive. The MLAs have written to the PCMC stating that demolition of structures is not the proper way to tackle the issue and demanded regularisation of existing illegal structures.
They stressed that the illegal structures be regularised either by increasing the Floor Space Index, by charging administrative charges or by imposing fines.
The MLAs stated that there was a provision in section 143 of the State Regional Town Planning Act, 1966, for levying administrative charges to regularise illegal constructions.
They claimed the urban development department issued an order on November 10, 1997 to regularise unauthorised constructions in rural areas by charging administrative charges.
