Mira-Bhayandar: The contentious issue of enemy properties in the twin-city is back on the spotlight after Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator-Ambadas Danve levelled serious allegations in the ongoing session of the legislative council while showing a Pakistani bond based on which titles were included in the 7/12 extracts (record of rights) of land parcel located in Mira Road which had been tagged as enemy property.
Demanding a detailed probe and action against those involved in the scam, Danve alleged that a local developer identified as- Raju Shah who had exposed the issue was receiving threat calls and voice messages on his WhatsApp number from a mobile number from Karachi in Pakistan.
Shah who had been lodging complaints against four developers for grabbing land parcels located in revenue villages including -Kashi and Ghodbunder has registered a complaint with DCP (Zone I)-Prakash Gaikwad after receiving the threat calls.
Notably, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) had sought directions from the state government’s urban development department (UDD) in 2022 for further action to be taken against enemy properties in their jurisdiction.
Large parcels of land tagged with more than 30 survey numbers falling in jurisdictions of revenue villages like-Ghodbunder, Mahajanwadi and Kashi are under the scanner for being enemy properties. In December, 2021, the central government authorities had directed the collector of Thane district to ensure that no sale or conveyance deed is registered for such holdings.
The civic administration was also asked to refrain from awarding permissions and tag stop work notices on land tagged as enemy property, following which the town planning wing launched an intensified survey to identify enemy properties in the revenue villages of Kashimira in January-2022.
After verifying the status of permissions awarded on concerned survey numbers, the town planning wing had responded with the list of 7 properties on which plans had already been passed and permissions granted before the central government orders.
“Granting nods for upcoming proposals or those in the pipeline for land tagged as enemy properties had been completely stopped.” confirmed town planning officer- P.M. Shinde.
Enemy properties are those whose survey numbers are registered in the names of people who migrated to Pakistan decades ago. After they accepted Pakistani citizenship and India declared Pakistan an enemy state in 1965, their properties were declared as enemy properties.
Big Players Eyeing Enemy Properties.
Some of the major players in the construction industry have planned huge multi-crore in parts of the enemy land parcels. Matters pertaining to enemy property are dealt with under the Enemy Property Act, 1968, and Enemy Property Rules, 2015. The transfer of enemy properties is banned through the Act.
