Nearly two lakh sq ft (five acres) of land at Survey number 49/1, Parvati had been declared as surplus under the Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) Act and had been given to the PMC by the Divisional Commissioner for use by the economically weaker section (EWS).

The civic administration had even paid Rs 89,000 to the Divisional Commissioner to be given to the original owner A V Joshi in 1979. However, the crucial faux pas made by the civic body was ``it did not bother to take possession of the land with the status quo being maintained till 1985.''

However, the owner Joshi filed an appeal with the Divisional Commissioner in 1985 that the land should be returned since the PMC had not made use of it. The appeal had been rejected. The issue only cropped up recently when the PMC required to acquire some 28-30,000 sq ft land for widening the road stretch from Aranyeshwar corner to Padmavati to 60 ft as per the Development Plan.

Local corporator Aba Bagul who disclosed the facts about the case to media persons today said that the PMC had issued a notice to the original owner Joshi and offered transferable development right (TDR) for - believe it or not - acquiring its own land.

Pointing out that market rate of the land ranged to an approximate Rs 16-18 crore, Bagul said that had the State Government also repealed the ULC Act, the PMC would have lost the land thereby depriving at least 1,000 EWS families from accommodation. Meanwhile the Divisional Commissioner Rajiv Agarwal has directed the PMC to take physical possession of the land on April 5, PMC officials said when contacted later.

Meanwhile, the PMC anti-encorachment squad which had been targetting structures and carrying out an incomplete action today struck at Laxmi Road with a vengeance. It pulled down more than 6000 square illegal structures.

The action was taken at Muley Chambers, Jayhind Collections, Guddies Collection, Janata Khadi Centre and Om Market where parking space was being used for the commercial purposes.

At Muley Chambers, five shops in the parking space were demolished while a terrace shed at Jayhind Collection was also pulled down.