Two months after BJP leader and opposition leader- Pravin Darekar sought the municipal commissioner’s attention towards the ongoing trend of grabbing vast parcels of public property in the tribal dominated areas including-Jambhli Galli, Mahajan Wadi and Mira Gaothan in Kashimira, another legislator from Hatkanangle (Kolhapur)- Dr. Sujit Minchekar has made a similar demand.
In his letter to the MBMC chief- Dilip Dhole, the Shiv Sena legislator has sought a detailed probe while demanding action against the land grabbers and the concerned ward officer who according to him were deliberately playing mute spectators to the illegal activities.
While high ranking officials were busy to comment on the issue, ward officer-Swapnil Sawant said, “Since the complaints are related to encroachment on government property, a joint meeting with revenue officers was held recently. Armed with necessary manpower and equipment, we are awaiting instructions from the revenue department to weed out the illegalities. It is wrong to blame the MBMC.” Notably another legislator- Suresh Dhas had also raised a starred question in context to massive illegal constructions in the twin-city
While the pandemic induced lockdown imposed in March caused tremendous hardships to the common man, the notorious land mafia used it as an opportunity to encroach and construct huge structures on government property meant for tribals and reap huge profits by manipulating documents to procure stay orders. This despite the fact that government land encroachments are not entitled to prior notices.
The routine “notice-hearing-stay” game being played between the MBMC and encroachers has transformed the twin-city into a hub of illegal constructions. Land grabbing, illegal constructions and unchecked encroachment on government has been a routine crime in the twin-city even as the state government has lost crores of rupees and land to the notorious mafia.
