Bhayandar : Local Shiv Sena unit led by MLA Pratap Sarnaik has threatened to launch indefinite hunger strike outside the municipal commissioner’s office if the civic administration fails to acquire two public amenity plots in Mira Road which allegedly being handed over to an influential builder.
Sarnaik has set a 15-day deadline for the mandatory acquisition process failing which the agitation will be launched.
It should be noted that the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) on the virtue of a general body resolution had allowed a private construction company to construct and operate a private school on a piece of land in Mahajan Wadi area of Kashimira. It was originally earmarked as open space for developing needed public amenities. Taking a strong objection to the illegal tweaking of rules to forgo a prime piece of property on the behest of an influential builder, Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik had sought intervention of the State government. However, when Urban Development Department (UDD) failed to take cognizance of the pleas for more than three years, Shiv Sena leader Prashant Palande filed a writ petition (4448/2013) in the Bombay High Court in May 2013 pleading immediate hand over of the land and utilising it to construct an auditorium, library and art gallery for locals.
In response to the petition HC’s divisional bench had directed the authorities to pass appropriate orders to this effect in March 2014. However, since then the MBMC is virtually sitting on the files.
“It was really absurd that a civic official, during his stint as acting commissioner of the MBMC, took such an important decision which he was not entitled to. Moreover, the said plot is reserved for amenity use and handing it over to the builder on lease without inviting tenders has exposed corrupt practices involved in the deal,” Sarnaik alleged.
It should be noted that due to a colossal delay in acquiring reserved properties in the twin-city, the MBMC has already deprived the region of its first drama theatre while other open spaces for public amenities are also under a systematic attack. Moreover, the MBMC has miserably failed to execute its 1997 Development Plan (DP) in the past 15 years.
– Suresh Golani
