The nil or partial action of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) against illegal encroachers is to blame for the waterlogging during the monsoon in the locality, a local activist has alleged. Terrence Hendriques from Nalasopara told mid-day that he had filed a PIL in 2019 after finding 12,606 illegal structures in Vasai-Virar-Nalasopara. Hendriques has also alleged that there are exponentially large numbers of illegal structures, including in the pockets where Virar police are conducting investigations, but no action is being taken against them.

The activist had filed a PIL in 2019 and “during the lockdown the matter was heard in a fast-track court because illegal structures were rampantly constructed during the lockdown,” he added. “I had surveyed 17 locations in Vasai-Virar-Nalasopara under VVCMC and learnt that there are 12,606 illegal structures. I had informed the HC in my affidavit but the VVCMC officials in their counter affidavit did not disclose all the illegal and unauthorised structures. VVCMC officials had mentioned only 2,800 illegal structures,” Hendriques said.