600 families rendered homeless in Nalasopara

A demolition drive in the presence of heavy security cover was carried out in Nalasopara West where as many as five of the 28 buildings constructed on government land were demolished on Friday.

The drive was carried out after the Bombay High Court issued an order hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an activist seeking action on the survey No. 32 of Hanuman Nagar. According to the order, 28 buildings housing around 600 families are meant to be razed.

The land belonging to the state government was handed over to the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation and was declared as government land. However, the land mafia started developing several projects and cheated numerous buyers with tall claims of providing them with water connections. Interestingly, various banks without verifying the documents sanctioned loans.

Talking about the plight, 30-year-old Vishnu Kesarkar — an engineer with a Rabale MIDC firm — along with his sister bought two flats here around two years ago. "My sister and I bought the flats as it was cheap. The builder had promised that the building is legal and would provide all the amenities meant for legal projects. He gave us all the documents saying that the project has all necessary clearances," he said.

While for Swati Vaishya, the demolition means an end to all her savings. "The government officials took bribe from the builders and kept quite until the buyers shifted in and suddenly they asked us to vacate the flats and started the demolition", said Vaishya.

"Hum toh raaste pe aagye (we are now forced to live on the roads)," she added.

This demolition drive is one of the major actions against illegal constructions since the inception of Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation and it comes after the Bombay HC intervened and directed the state authorities to crack its whip against them.

"The buildings would be demolished phase wise. We have asked the residents to vacate the buildings or face legal action for obstructing public servants from conducting duty," said Dadarao Datkar, deputy collector, Vasai region.

"The orders from the Bombay HC has been sent to us and we have initiated the demolition as the buildings are constructed on government land. We would also initiate legal action against the builders involved in cheating the residents and encroaching the government land," said Datkar.

The families would not be compensated or given relief by the state government as they were staying in illegal property, he added.