Bhayandar: Two days after taking over the reins of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC), chief Chandrakant K Dange seems to have made his intentions very clear — he and will not tolerate any nonsense or illegality in the twin-city. On Tuesday, Dange an IAS officer of 2010 batch, ordered the demolition of more than three dozen shops which had illegally sprung up located on the Mira-Bhayandar road near Kashimira junction.
The plot on which the huge illegal structures, mostly housing furniture shops, had sprung up is owned by the company that is controlled by a former legislator, who till now had a tremendous clout over the civic administration.
“The illegal shops had sprung up in the jurisdictions of two wards namely 4 and 6. More than a dozen shops have been razed so far, the drive will continue until the entire illegalities are weeded out,” said a ward officer. Despite complaints, none of the officials dared to take action against the illegalities, however, the move by the newly appointed MBMC chief has send shivers down the spine of land mafia involved in unauthorized construction activities.
“No one in the city doubts that as long as Chandrakant Dange is in charge, sparks will continue to fly from the municipal corporation’s just launched demolition campaign,” observed a social activist.
Immediately after news of Chandrakant Dange, assuming charge flashed on social media platforms including Facebook and Whatsapp, citizens wished him good luck to free the MBMC of corruption and solve various civic issues grappling the region-mainly the illegal construction menace.