Bhayandar: The FIR registered by the Kashimira police against five land owners for breaching the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act-ULCRA, if investigated in a proper manner may open a Pandora’s Box for the real sector which has witnessed hundreds of acres of ceiling land being illegally sold and transferred in the twin-city.
Based on a complaint by Nitin Jadhav, Assistant Town Planner (Thane Urban Agglomeration), the police had filed a FIR under the relevant sections of the IPC and the Urban Land (Celling & Regulation) Act-ULCRA for illegally transferring rights of notified land in Mire village.
Passed in 1976, the ULCRA was aimed at preventing profiteering through massive land hoarding and to create affordable housing for the weaker section. While any individual could hold land not more than 5,000 square mt. the Act mandates developers to hand over 5 percent of the flats/ surrender surplus land for public housing.
Around 1,022 layouts had been approved under the ULCRA scheme in villages including-Bhayandar, Khari, Goddev, Navghar, Mire, Mahajanwadi, Penkarpada, Kashi, Ghodbunder — falling under the revenue limits of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation. In clear violation of the land revenue code, hundreds of properties notified under the ULC have been illegally sold and transferred, despite bearing “Land under Ceiling” stamps on property documents.
Moreover thousands of flats are yet to be recovered from various developers under the provisions of the repealed ULCRA. While scores of developers have not bothered to hand over possession of flats, some blame it on the absence of an official mechanism required to hand over of the reserved units.
