Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
In City Survey No. 32 of Pethenagar in the northern part of Bhimanagar, a 15-meter-wide road was plotted as part of the development plan. Poor and lower-income citizens purchased plots and built houses there. On Tuesday, the Municipal Corporation’s anti-encroachment squad demolished one permanent and five temporary houses. Notably, all the plot owners have valid purchase deeds.
In the old development plan, land mafias had plotted many roads. Poor citizens are often unaware of this and do not conduct any inquiries before buying such plots. Since the plots are inexpensive, they buy them without hesitation. Similarly, residents of Pethenagar had also bought plots and built houses in this manner.
A few days ago, the squad served notices in April to property owners adjacent to the ‘SAI’ wall inside the university area. The notices caused a stir among the residents, who were given time to remove encroachments voluntarily.
On Tuesday morning, Santosh Wahule, head of the anti-encroachment section, along with his team, arrived to carry out the demolition. Initially, citizens and women strongly protested. The municipal corporation sought additional assistance from the Chawani police. Using a JCB, by evening, six houses were demolished.
The action was taken out by Assistant Commissioner Sanjay Suradkar, Building Inspector Mukesh Khadse, Ravindra Desai, Sagar Shreshtha, Ashok Kadam, and JCB operator Ganesh Darade, among others.