Decades-old 80 feet road expansion sparks fury, 125 houses razed

Demolition drive faces fierce resistance from residents

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A decades-old plan to widen a road in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar turned into a flashpoint on Wednesday, as the civic body demolished over 125 houses, triggering chaos and clashes with residents. The demolition drive, spanning Vishwakarma Chowk to Zenda Chowk, met fierce resistance from residents who claimed they were unaware of the road expansion plan and had been living there for years.

The proposed 80-foot road was envisioned in Cidco's 2001 plan. However, implementation remained elusive for over two decades, allowing a settlement of over 300 houses to mushroom on the designated path. Municipal administrator G Sreekanth took information about the sanctioned road via Jalna road, Pilot Baba Nagri, Zenda Chowk, Vishwakarma Chowk to Shivajinagar. It was noticed that there are 300 houses on this road. Notices were given to the occupants. A time limit of 72 hours was allotted to vacate the home. However, citizens did not vacate their homes and were reluctant for cash compensation. On Wednesday morning, the municipal team entered Vishwakarma Chowk from Gokul Sweet in a heavy police presence. Additional commissioner Saurabh Joshi, deputy commissioner Mangesh Deore repeatedly explained and asked the citizens to cooperate with the administration.

Fury erupts, stones fly

As the demolition began at 9 am, women residents started the resistance, pelting stones at police and injuring several officers and municipal employees. The charged atmosphere escalated into clashes, with police resorting to lathi charges and tear gas to control the crowd. Despite assurances of alternative housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), residents remained adamant, refusing to vacate their homes.

Caught in the mire of land deals

Many residents claimed they were unaware of the DP road plan and had purchased plots on bond paper from land mafias. These transactions, spanning 20-25 years, lacked formal documentation. Families, primarily from villages, had built their lives on these plots, considering them affordable options. A similar attempt at demolition by the civic body nine years ago was met with resistance and ultimately halted.

JCB's first strike on illegal liquor shops

As soon as the protest at Vishwakarma Chowk subsided, the CSMC diverted the first JCB to an illegal liquor shop with the help of the police. As soon as the two liquor shops were destroyed, the opposition of the citizens completely subsided. Municipal corporation did not give anyone a chance to remove the belongings. One by one the houses were razed. As soon as they realized that the action would not stop, the remaining citizens started removing their belongings. The two illegal liquor shops were located within a call distance from Pundaliknagar police station.

Attempted action even 9 years ago

There were only 134 houses in the survey when the municipal corporation surveyed this road nine years ago. Considering the opposition of the citizens, the administration had stopped the action. Now more than 300 houses have been built on this same DP road.

All facilities provided to citizens

Electricity meters were given by MSEDCL to the citizens who built their houses on DP road. Municipal corporation imposed double property tax on unauthorized houses. Street lights and drainage lines were also set up. As the citizens were getting all the facilities, they started building houses.