Encroachments thrive as zone chiefs turn a blind eye

Nagpur: With the suspension of assistant municipal commissioner of Dharampeth zone Rajesh Karade for ignoring encroachments in front of Meetha Neem dargah, the work pattern of all zonal officers has come under scanner.
Social activists and those who have launched a fight against illegal constructions and encroachments claim that assistant commissioners often restrict their action to merely issuing stop work notices thus giving the offenders ample time to move court and secure a stay order on the impending demolition.
“There are provisions in the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act to demolish an unauthorized structure within 24 hours of issuing notice, but few officers proceed this far. Sometimes, the officers undertake symbolic demolition by removing a few bricks so that they can record action on paper just in case of an inquiry,” said social activist Madhukar Kukde, adding that unauthorized constructions were the biggest means of moneymaking for civic officers, followed by unauthorized hawking.
Even though the Act empowers assistant municipal commissioners or zone chiefs to act against those who violate sanctioned plans, they never use these powers to raze such constructions. Ironically, assistant municipal commissioners and town planning officials suppressed a circular of the then municipal commissioner to decide whether to regularize any illegal construction or to initiate action. Though the circular was issued on April 3, 2013, the concerned officials have failed to utilize the powers paving way for many violators to use their clout in the urban development department in Mumbai for avoiding action.
Incidentally, a move to fix responsibility for illegal and unauthorized constructions on assistant commissioners and senior inspectors was mooted in 1995 by then chief minister Manohar Joshi. However, neither any assistant commissioner nor any other senior official has been penalized since. “Action against illegal construction is taken by the designated officer (DO) and assistant engineers. The then municipal commissioner had asked all assistant commissioners to monitor and ensure action. If the NMC fails to act on specific complaints, then the assistant commissioners should be held responsible. The onus is on ward officers now," said chairman of legal advisory committee of the NMC and lawyer Sanjay Balpande.
Commenting on the circular, a BJP corporator said it was a welcome move, but nothing has happened on ground zero. “Many such circulars have been issued from time-to-time but there was little action on the ground. Unless stern action is taken against senior officers, nothing will change,” he said.
“Although civic officials act against relatively small unauthorized constructions, they generally ignore bigger ones by influential persons,” said a citizen.
Ranjit Deshpande (name changed on request) lamented that in many cases officers refuse to even record complaints against unauthorized construction reported by citizens. “They don’t entertain our complaints, forget action,” he said, adding the punitive action against Karade was a good beginning. “There should be a transparent inquiry in Karade’s case,” he said.
Even as municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar was not available for comments, a senior NMC official admitted that a few officers might be ignoring unauthorized constructions. He, however, was quick to defend his ilk, saying, “More often than not, they (officers) end up in difficult situations. It is not easy to take on the encroachers who have political backing. Also, we have limited resources.”
“The municipal commissioner has already issued directives to all the assistant commissioners not to spare or ignore illegal constructions across the corporation limits,” the officer said.
EXAMPLES GALORE
* On March 26, 2013, Dhantoli zone staffers led by the then assistant municipal commissioner Mahesh Moroney had served notice to president of Neeti Gaurav apartments under Section 56 of Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act 1966. But, even after three years nothing has changed on ground zero.
* Another example is of multi-storeyed Hotel Lotus Inn, that opened in 2014 opposite Orange City Hospital on Khamla Road. The hotel has violated its sanctioned building plan and NMC has done nothing. The basement reserved for parking is being used as an open kitchen of the restaurant. Half of the place is actually constructed upon and being used as reception lobby of the hotel.
And these are just the tips of the iceberg.