Mumbai: Encroachment gone for good, Mahul to get huge playground

Workers remove illegal structures from the plot at Jijamata Nagar in Chembur, on Wednesday

Soon, the children of Mahul, Chembur, will have a vast playground in their locality. The BMC has cleared the encroachments on a plot measuring around 5,000 square meter at Jijamata Nagar, officials said on Friday. "A small portion of the plot - 1,600 square meter - is reserved for a waste segregation centre and the major plot is reserved for the playground," said a BMC official of M West ward.

First we will secure, then make sure that encroachers don't come again. Thereafter, we will develop a segregation centre. We will start work on the playground once we receive the budget for it. We are hoping to get the allocation soon," the official added.

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Assistant Municipal Commissioner (M West ward) Vishwas Mote has asked officials to make proper arrangements for the safety of the plot. "Jijamata Nagar has a mix of residential buildings and slums. As currently there are no playgrounds nearby, this will benefit the local residents," said another official.

A team of 13 engineers and 52 workers, with the help of machinery, removed 32 illegal structures from the spot on Wednesday. Another official told mid-day, "The encroachment on this plot was first removed in 2017 and again in 2019. However, the same encroachers returned and built illegal structures during the COVID-19 pandemic."

"Some five to six people have been involved in the illegal construction here. This time, we have removed the encroachment on the entire plot at one go. Soon, we will start building the boundary to secure the land," he added.