Mumbai: ‘We may soon have to sleep on the footpath’

Shruti Santosh Patil, a resident of Gurukrupa Society in Vasai West, said that she and her husband Santosh purchased their flat in 2015, for R7 lakh. A few days back, the police arrived at their doorstep and told them that their building was illegally constructed. Pics/Hanif Patel

The recent Rs 3,000-crore housing scam, exposed by the Virar Police, has sent shockwaves across the middle class home-buying community, who had sought refuge in the adjacent districts of Palghar and Thane, due to the skyrocketing property prices in Mumbai. With several new developers erecting a glut of houses under various schemes at throwaway prices in these regions, owning a dream home finally seemed like a possibility. Those hopes have now been shattered for many.

mid-day has been reporting about the multi-crore housing scam that has rocked the VVCMC. On August 9, authorities from the municipal body filed three FIRs against seven builders. Sources at the Virar Police told mid-day when the VVCMC first learnt about illegal and unauthorised constructions mushrooming in the region, it slapped notices under the Maharashtra Region Town Planning (MRTP) Act against them.

The notices were issued between 2019 and 2022. "Ideally, the civic official should have immediately approached a local court to file a caveat, so that the said developer couldn't easily secure a stay order from the court," local advocate Digambar Desai said. "However, the civic officials did nothing after the notice, and the buildings were erected right under the nose of the VVCMC officials," said a police officer.

Nowhere to go

While the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) chief Anilkumar Pawar has planned to demolish 55 illegal structures, those who invested in property in these buildings say they have been left in the lurch.

Among them is Pravin Pawar, who bought a flat for Rs 7.45 lakh at Gurukrupa Society in Vasai West in the year 2020. His building is among those marked for demolition. Pawar, who is also the secretary of the society, lives with his wife Prachi Pawar and their two children. "I have been working in the hospitality space," he shares. "When I bought the flat, all the necessary documentation was in place. Suddenly, we received a call from the police about our building being illegal. Now, we don't know what to do or where to go."

Pawar has requested the VVCMC and police to intervene to "retrieve our flats". Shruti Santosh Patil, another resident of the society, said that her husband Santosh and she purchased the flat in 2015, for Rs 7 lakh. "We also took a loan from the builder." The police, she said, arrived at their doorstep a few days ago, and asked for the agreement of the flats. "We are scared now."

Patil further said that the police also mentioned that their society's builder, Prashant Patil, had defrauded many people by constructing illegal houses. "My husband works in a shop and is paid on a daily wage basis. It's difficult for us to purchase a new house," she explained. Home-owners at Rudransh Apartments in Kopri Village, Vasai East, are equally anxious. Virender Kumar Yadav, a 48-year-old private bus driver, said that he lived in a chawl in Poonam Nagar, Andheri East. "We sold that flat for R14 lakh, put in our life's savings of R6 lakh and bought our new home - a 350-sqft 1BHK."

Manoj Chavan, who lives with his wife Kalpana Chavan and their two daughters, in Rudransh Apartments in Kopri Village, Vasai East, took a loan of R15 lakh from a bank a year ago, to buy the flat that they recently learnt is an illegal property

There are some who have taken loans of Rs 15-Rs 20 lakh, and are unsure of what their future holds. Manoj Chavan, who lives with his wife Kalpana Chavan and their two daughters, in Rudransh, bought their flat a year ago. "We do fabrication work for a living and used to live nearby in a rented flat. We saw an ad about a 1BHK flat of 380 sqft for R20 lakh. The builder told us that it was approved by RERA and CIDCO. They promised free maintenance for a year," says Chavan, who took a loan of Rs 15 lakh from a nationalised bank.

Chotelal Paswan, an auto driver, who was the first to buy a flat at Rudransh four years ago, when the building was under construction, said he is currently repaying his loan of Rs 10 lakh. "My entire month's salary goes into paying the EMI. I have my mother, father, wife and three children to take care of. If this building gets demolished, we may have to sleep on the footpath," he said.

VVCMC woke up too late

In the past, several activists have been trying to bring the rampant illegal constructions in Vasai-Virar to the attention of the authorities. In 2019, Nalasopara-based petitioner Terence Hendriques filed a PIL about rampant illegal constructions in the jurisdiction of VVCMC. Last year, the Bombay HC passed an order to affix ‘Notice Boards' on illegal structures. "But the order was not complied with by the civic officials despite several written communications to the VVCMC commissioner," he said, adding, "This year, I filed a civil contempt petition and the hearing is awaited."

Chotelal Paswan, an auto driver, says his entire month's income goes into repaying the home loan. If his building gets demolished, his family will be on the street, he says

A source from the police said that local municipal authorities are hand-in-glove. "Why does the municipal body approve water connections to these illegal buildings? The civic body also collects property tax from the owners of the flats," the office said, adding, "How it is possible that the civic body is not aware what is happening in its jurisdiction? We have widened our probe and will also question the senior civic officials and the commissioner."

Senior advocate Digambar Desai said that a strict law must be enacted, and the civic official concerned must be booked if an illegal/unauthorised construction is found in their jurisdiction. "The Anti-Corruption Bureau must be active everywhere and the assets of all the civic officials must be checked to see who made how much money," he added.

When contacted, VVCMC commissioner Anilkumar Pawar directed this reporter to talk to Additional Commissioner Ajinkya Bagade, who in turn asked us to speak with Additional Commissioner Ramesh Manale. After a lot of back and forth, Bagade said, "I don't have any information regarding the unauthorised constructions and number of MRTP notices issued [by VVCMC]."

Same situation elsewhere

In the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), too, many of the projects were termed as illegal, but neither the corporation nor the state government authorities took action, says Kalyan-based architect and social worker Sandeep Patil. Patil wrote to several MLAs and MLCs and urged them to make some stringent rules for developers. After persistent follow-ups, rules were framed, which made RERA registration mandatory. However, Patil later learnt that 65 projects were registered with MahaRERA using bogus papers.

Anilkumar Pawar and Terence Hendriques

"The modus was such that these developers forged corporation approval and submitted those letters in MahaRERA and got the registration number. When I found the first case in Adivali Dhokli village, I filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court in 2021; it's still pending with the Bombay HC." Till now, multiple FIRs have been filed and ED is also probing the matter, but the corporation hasn't demolished any buildings.

In some cases authorities have taken a tough stand. In April this year, the Thane Municipal Corporation officials had to raze 40 illegal structures, which were constructed in Thane collector's land in Kasarwadvali. Media reports suggest that many bungalows were illegally constructed on the eco-sensitive zones in Yeour hills in Thane. The following month, Thane Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar issued a show cause notice to Subodh Thanekar, assistant commissioner and designated officer of Kalwa ward office, for inaction against unauthorised constructions.

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No of illegal buildings likely to be demolished in Vasai-Virar

Inputs by Shirish Vaktania

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