Finally, PCB demolishes cemetry encroachments

It was a memorable day for the trustees of Tandel Masjid Trust.

Finally, PCB demolishes cemetry encroachments

It was a memorable day for the trustees of Tandel Masjid Trust. Almost 10 months after the last court order, the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) finally demolished the encroachments on a piece of land owned by the trust. Located at Sachapir Street in Camp, the 8,178 sq. ft. tract is a Muslim burial ground. The encroachments first sprouted up in 1979. There were about 10 to 15 small shops on the spot, most of which sold automobile spare parts and car batteries.

Late in the coming: A PCB earthmover demolishes illegal structures
on the land in Sachapir Street in Camp. Pic/Himanshu Dixit

A PCB official present on the spot said the demolition team reached the spot around 12.30 pm and a team of about five to six PCB workers were present to help with the demolition with the help of an earthmover. Trust members said, the main encroacher, one Mohan Tarachand Sethiya, had constantly appealed in the Civil Court against the demolition. "He (Sethiya) rebuilt it overnight and went into appeal a few months later.

The court again dismissed his appeal in 1995 and another final appeal was made in 2000. This was dismissed in August 2010 and the PCB was directed to demolish all illegal structures with immediate effect," said Aslam Qureshi, a trust member.u00a0 Trust members said the PCB was sitting on the court directive since August 2010 and had not even applied for police protection.

"Why didn't they follow the court order till now?" said Ghulam Dastagir, another member of the trust.Senior Police Inspector Sushma Chavan said the encroachment officers from the PCB had issued letters to the police station asking for protection. "An officer from the PCB's encroachment department, F Gaikwad, usually co-ordinates with us during the demolition drives. This time he didn't get back to us before starting the demolition. We were ready to give protection even if they had given us just a day's intimation," she said.

The Other Side
KV Shirodkar, superintending engineer, PCB gave ambiguous answers when asked why the PCB did not act sooner. "We had communicated to the police about the bandobast and were waiting for it," he said. Chief Executive Officer Rachel Koshy refused to comment despite repeated attempts.