27 October,2010 07:31 AM IST | | Shailesh Bhatia
Khar plot, where playground, transit camp and police station were to come up, has been encroached, reveals RTI
IN your space-starved city, even the police are not spared by the land mafia.
A plot situated off the breeze-swept Carter Road, which has been earmarked for the Khar police station, has been encroached upon, reveals the reply to a Right To Information query (copy with MiD DAY).
It's a plot which measures 9,000 sq m and is situated close to the northern end (towards Santacruz).
"The RTI response states that the plot is marked for a police station.
The encroached plot at Khar
Over 5,000 sq m of the land was meant for a playground, the rest for providing housing for the dishoused," said RTI activist Raja Bunch who teaches at the St Elias High School, Khar.
The present location from which the Khar police station functions is a shed-like structure which lacks space to store official documents and is poorly ventilated.
"Over the years, I've seen that the number of encroachments on this plot has been rising," said Bunch. "At current realty rates, the estimated cost of this plot could be at least Rs 322 crore."
Bunch said it was sheer curiosity over the purpose for which the plot was reserved that made him file the RTI query.
An officer from Khar police station, who did not wish to be named, confirmed that MiD DAY's information on the RTI reply was true.
"But to comment on this would be inviting trouble," the officer said.
Politics to blame?
"Greed for votes has made local politicians allow the encroachments," said Vincent Mathias, secretary of St Vincent Society.
"An open space, reserved for a police station, if utilised in the proper manner, will help enhance security along the coastal stretch. Besides, the playground is required in a cityu00a0 starved of open spaces."
Another RTI activist from the area, Aftab Siddique, said the locality management body in the area had written several letters to the BMC.
"One cannot deny that the Khar police station needs a larger space to function.
Since 2007, the former principal of St Elias School, Father Milton, had left no stone unturned to get the property fenced so that it is not encroached upon.
He was keen to adopt the playground so that underprivile- ged children from his school and local residents could use it for sports and recreation," said Siddique.
The Other Side
Manik Kshirsagar, assistant municipal commissioner of H (west) ward, under which the plot falls, said, "I will soon initiate action to demolish illegal encroachments so that the police station, playground and transit camp under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority can come up as per plan."
