The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has commenced the demolition of around 30 illegal religious structures located on the slopes of landslide-prone Belapur Hill. This move comes in response to a directive from the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC). A CIDCO official confirmed that two structures have already been demolished under the security cover of about 100 policemen, however, the operation had to be held up due to heavy rains early this week.
As many as 30 illegal temples have come up, occupying a whopping 2,30,000 sq ft of the hill, information obtained from CIDCO by environment watchdog NatConnect Foundation under the RTI Act shows. About 600 one-bedroom-hall-kitchen flats could be built on such a big land parcel, the NGO pointed out.
NatConnect and residents appreciated action by CIDCO, and expressed the hope that the officials would soon complete the demolition and keep the hill safe and free of all encroachments.
The MSHRC has taken suo motu cognizance of the media reports of a campaign launched by NatConnect against green violations and apprehending landslide dangers to the religious structures as well as the people and properties below the hill.
The unauthorised structure saga dates back to 2015 when the local Kalpataru Cooperative Housing Society complained to CIDCO which in turn promised action. Based on media reports of CIDCO inaction and landslide dangers, the rights body has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, the principal secretaries of revenue and environment departments, CIDCO MD, NMMC Commissioner and Thane Collector to explain their positions.
Both CIDCO and revenue departments have filed separate affidavits stating that the demolition, which was planned long ago, could not be carried out as the police were dragging their feet on providing security. In fact, the revenue department said they asked for the intervention of the home department to get police to help the demolition of the unauthorised structures.
Amid all this, CIDCO launched the demolition since all claims of regularisation of the structures were rejected. CIDCO’s controller of unauthorised constructions drove up two JCB machines but looking at the heavy downpour, the work was halted, an official said. Weather permitting, the action will be resumed with the help of the police, an official confirmed to NatConnect.
Meanwhile, CIDCO requested NMMC to cut the water supply to the illegal religious structures. Similarly, the Maha Discom was asked to snap power connections. NatConnect director B N Kumar said in his affidavit to the MSHRC that he is not at all against any religious structures, but they could be built in any place other than the hill slopes after due permissions and allotments from CIDCO.
The construction as well as indiscriminate tree chopping has loosened the soil and made the hill landslide prone. In fact, there have been incidents of landslides that broke the retaining wall at Kalpataru Cooperative Housing Society, activist Himanshu Katkar said.
Some of the structures occupying over 20,000 sq ft to 40,000 sq ft have built halls to accommodate up to 2,000 people which is highly risky, Kumar said and apprehended Hathras-type human tragedies on the hill. In another development, two of the religious structures sought to file intervention petitions at the HRC since their pleas for regularisation were pending with CIDCO. The Commission allowed them to file their affidavits. The Commission composed of Justice K K Tated and member M A Sayeed fixed August 26 for the next hearing.