Thane Municipal Corporation’s efforts to crack down on illegal buildings doesn’t seem to get much traction as citizens allege selective demolitions are taking place that have political touch. GR of illegal construction was passed in 2008, 2009 and recently. Still, what is its fate? TMC’s twitter handle and website are filled with updates on demolition drive but there is no concrete civic action against the builders who protect such unauthorized structures. A senior citizen Harold Carvalho residing in Thane has been a prime victim of this nexus and is searching a way out to counter the shackles of bureaucracy.
Carvalho, a businessman aged 61-year-old owns 14-acre land in Thane’s Lokmanya-Savarkar Nagar Prabhag Samiti. The place in which this land is located is also known as the Carvalho Nagar and 2 illegal encroachments are going here since last 6 months. Carvalho’s ancestral land has been hijacked by some goons who hold the government officials in their hands and make deals. Some unauthorized construction workers are threatening Carvalho to even kill him.
The first party- Mr. Carvalho subleased land in various dimensions to different people who thereafter constructed chawls on their subleased plots. In two rooms, they themselves were residing and balance was given on monthly rental basis. So, as time passed by, the owner of the chawl approached various builders who demolished the said chawls. They encroached upon vacant land round about the plot and constructed illegal and unauthorized structure consisting of flats in various dimensions which was later on sold to various persons. Hence, the owner of the chawl and builder get windfall profit from this illegal activity.
In most of the cases, Carvalho sent legal notices to the tenants constructing illegal buildings and thereafter, he approached TMC. “Some unauthorized construction workers have tried to shut me up by threatening to kill me. I am protecting my property without falling prey to these threats. However, I am not getting any kind of help from the TMC or the police,” Carvalho told LokmatTimes.com.
Ordinary Senior Citizen Trapped in Dangerous Builder-Official Nexus
Carvalho’s family consists of his elderly mother, Mrs. Silvina Carvalho, aged 82 years, his wife, Mrs. Teresa Carvalho, aged 59 years, and his son, Mr. Antonius Carvalho, aged 31 years (who is currently abroad). Carvalho, himself being a senior citizen, frequently visits the TMC office but returns back with utter disappointment. “I am fed up of this constant rounds at the TMC office. No one is ready to listen to my demands. I don’t have anything against the TMC Commissioner but his junior officials are too lethargic. The system is too corrupt and everything is managed through notes,” expressed Carvalho.
For an instance, mother of MR. Carvalho wrote a letter to the TMC Commissioner dated November 21, 2023 in which she complained about an unauthorized multi-storey building that was being constructed at Tiwari Tabella in Carvalho Nagar. Mr. Vijay Narayan Tiwari recently demolished his house/tabella on Carvalho’s property and has encroached on the adjacent vacant land to construct a new unauthorized multi-storey building. The letter asserts, “The construction does not have the required permissions from the landowner or the TMC.” At present, the ongoing building construction by Tiwari is covered by a green net.
TMC made grand announcement to crack whip on illegal buildings in a month-long drive starting January 10. The campaign is gaining momentum in Kalwa, Mumbra, Diva but concerns still remain on “selective demolition.” It has been observed that the lower-level employees have fail in this action. In a demolition drive at a building in Kalwa-Vitawa area, only two columns were dug up and later they were filled in overnight after the TMC team left. Citizens say that the action was only symbolic. In a similar way, Carvalho who is awaiting justice charged that cosmetic demolition used to take place sometimes on his land, thereby the life of the structure was compromised proving a dangerous hazard to public at large.