The town planning wing attached to the Mira Bhayandar Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has launched an intensified survey to identify enemy properties in the revenue villages of Kashimira. Large parcels of land tagged with more than 30 survey numbers falling in jurisdictions of revenue villages including Ghodbunder, Mahajanwadi and Kashi are under the scanner for being enemy properties.
The action followed after the Assistant Custodian of Enemy Property, sought a report from the district collector on specified survey numbers in context to occupation since the year 1950 along with the revenue records. Responding to the central government directions, the Upper Tehsildar office refrained the MBMC’s town planning wing from granting any type approvals in respect to the specified survey numbers.
“Special teams comprising surveyors and engineers have been deputed to conduct an elaborate physical examination of the survey numbers. After compiling the report, the actual status of permissions will be scrutinized. Due process of law will be followed before taking action including- cancellation of permissions and issuing stop work notices. No permissions will be granted for upcoming proposals or those in the pipeline for land tagged as enemy properties.” said chief of town planning wing- Hemant Thakur.
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 around 1965, their properties were declared as enemy properties. While the survey has sent shockwaves in the construction industry as some of the major players have planned huge complexes in parts of the land parcels, the revenue department is under the scanner for fraudulently transferring names on land extract records of enemy properties.
" It's a belated move. The government should have stamped an enemy property remark on records of such land parcels much earlier. This is nothing but harassment." said a land owner requesting anonymity.
