Parties join hands to get illegal structures regularised

However,Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Babar struck a discordant note,stating he was not confident that anything substantial would be achieved by joining hands unless the government shows “political will” in the matter.

The initiative for organising the all-party meeting was taken by senior NCP leader Azam Pansare,who also heads the State Labour Welfare Advisory Board. Among the others were Mayor Mohini Lande,Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Babar,NCP Pimpri-Chinchwad President Yogesh Behl,Congress Pimpri-Chinchwad President Bhausaheb Bhoir,Shiv Sena city unit chief Bhagwan Walhekar,BJP Pimpri-Chinchwad President Sadashiv Khade,former BJP unit chief Eknath Pawar,NCP MLA Laxman Jagtap,standing committee chairman Navnath Jagtap,MNS House Leader Anant Korhale and advocate Rajabhau Suryavanshi.

The leaders lamented that there has been no decision on illegal constructions from the state government despite the fact there had been agitations and public outcry since last year when the PCMC started demolishing illegal structures.

“The PCMC has sent a proposal to the state government to legalise unauthorised structures. Several meetings have been held with the chief minister and deputy chief minister on the issue,but no final decision has been made so far. Since the PCMC is again preparing to demolish structures constructed before March 2012,a sense of fear has gripped the citizens. Therefore,it is imperative that all the parties join hands to pressurise the government to take decisive action in the matter,” said the party leaders. They said that if all the parties join hands,the government will be forced to act with a sense of urgency. Otherwise,the matter will drag on and it might create a law and order problem.

The leaders said the Action Committee will be formed soon. The committee is expected to pursue the matter of regularising illegal structures aggressively with the government. “The committee is expected to fix an appointment with the chief minister and deputy chief minister in the next 10 days,” a Sena leader said.

The party leaders said their representatives in the State Assembly will raise the issue of regularising the illegal structures in the winter sessions of the Assembly starting from December 9. The leaders said they were planning a sit-in agitation in Mumbai.

Addressing the media after the meeting,Pansare said,“The leaders of the all-party meeting agreed that the issue of illegal construction should be resolved forthwith. All of them are ready to join hands. I took the initiative of bringing them all on one platform in the interest of citizens of Pimpri-Chinchwad,” he said,adding that he was hopeful the leaders will be able to convince the government to take an appropriate decision in the matter. The leaders also said the corporators from the meeting should resign if the government refuses to take a decision in the matter.

MLA Laxman Jagtap said attempts are being made to defame him on the issue of illegal construction of a school. “Some canards are being spread about me. I am in no way responsible for the high court directive on illegal constructions. In fact,it was the civic administration which once again brought the issue to the fore by drawing attention of the high court to the number of illegal constructions,” he said.

MP Babar however spoke his mind while spelling out in clear terms that little will be achieved by parties joining hands as the government lacks political will to resolve the matter.

“The issue of illegal structures is common to all of Maharashtra. The issue has been pending for years. The government does not want to resolve it as it comes in handy for it during elections when it promises the voters that it will find a solution if voted to power. The gullible voters then elect their party only to find that those who made the promise have failed to live up to their word. This has happened in three elections consecutively,” Babar said.

“NCP is in power in PCMC as well. It can easily resolve the issue,but why is it dragging its feet?,” Babar asked.

Meanwhile,there is still no sign of the PCMC administration taking action against the illegal structures that were set up before March 2012. The PCMC has decided to demolish these structures as per the latest high court directives,but says it was waiting for a copy of the order.

For months,the PCMC was demolishing structures that were set up after March 2012 since it had sent a proposal to the state government to regularise structures set up before March 2012. Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi has said that his administration needed time to identify such illegal structures,conduct panchanama and ensure police protection.

“We need some time to start action against structures set up before March 2012. Our action against structures set up after March 2012 is underway,” he said. As for the “illegal religious structures” that are sprouting up on key roads in Pimpri-Chinchwad,Pardeshi said he was looking into them.

Civic activists said politicians were setting up religious structures with the hope of using them for winning voters who make a beeline to such places.