Mumbai: Did the BGTA panel give space to non-members on allotted land?

MMRDA had allotted a 56888sqm land parcel to the Bombay Goods Transport Association BGTA in 1990 to construct the Wadala Truck TerminalMajor lapses have come to light in MMRDAs inquiry conducted into the allotment of a 56888sqm land parcel to the Bombay Goods Transport Association BGTA MMRDA had allotted the land to BGTA for setting up Wadala Truck Terminal way back in 1990 but the latter allegedly flouted conditions of its agreement with MMRDA while giving portions from the land to its membersAdditional collector of Palghar district Shridhar Dube Patil who was earlier the additional collector of Metro II MMRDA had submitted a 2362page confidential report highlighting the lapses and revenue losses to the state exchequer to Metropolitan Commissioner U P S Madan in October 2017 Though he was transferred to Palghar after that he said My transfer was a routine administrative affair and had nothing to do with the inquiryMadan is said to have gone through the report in December His note on it reads The Enquiry Officer has gone into various aspects There seem to be several irregularities prima facie in the affairs of the BGTA Mahasangh There may be somewhere action can be taken by us in other cases it may have to be referred to Cooperative Department Stamp Duty office Revenue department Please examine the report and put up for actionhellip sicThe whistle blowsInterestingly MMRDA had received a complaint alleging irregularities in the allocation of spaces to BGTA members by the committee A detailed initial probe was carried out in October 2014 by the office of the Deputy Metropolitan Commissioner and MMRDA land cell Anil Wankhade whose prima facie findings substantiated the allegationsThe complaint had been by Banarsidas Goel a BGTA member and proprietor of Goel Transport Company Goel said Plenty of irregularities have been observed by the BGTA committee while allotting office spaces and godowns Multiple sales and purchases have been done by some BGTA members resulting in monetary losses to the state governmentOn the one hand there are members waiting for years to get what is rightfully theirs on the other there are a few who own multiple properties But what takes the cake is that there are two companies that own office space in the WTT without having a transport background or any association with the BGTANo commentsMy complaints to the MMRDA commissioner CMs office AntiCorruption Bureau and registrar office have fallen on deaf ears until this report he addedMadan Additional Controller of Stamps Mumbai Suresh Jadhav and Secretary of state Urban Development Department Manisha Mhaiskar remained available for commentWhen asked if the ACB was carrying out any inquiry Additional Director General of Police ACB Vivek Phansalkar said I am not in a position to make any commentAnother ACB officer said If at all any such report is out we need the MMRDA which is the landowner to lodge an official complaint with us only then we will look into itThe other sideBGTA president Vijay Rawal said There is no irregularityhellip some members having a grudge against certain officebearers are trying to make an issue out of nothing Of those who were allotted land in 1992 some have sold it and some have passed away Moreover the government has already scrapped the truck terminal project at Wadala so the question of duping anyone doesnt ariseWhen questioned about the alleged sale of multiple spaces to a single member and even nonmembers another member said The person who is alleging the fraud is a BGTA member himself and holds a grudge against us Allotment was done through a lottery system which was transparent While the lottery was held for allocation of godowns any member can purchase multiple office spacesThe member added that the committee was ready to pay the stamp duty and registration fee but only after the MMRDA fulfilled its promise of registering the societyToday property rates have touched R1 lakhsqft And it is those with vested interests who have accused us of indulging in malpractices Four buildings are ready but the MMRDA is yet to issue Occupancy Certificates Its delaying deliberately because it wants the plot back said another BGTA memberBanarsidas GoelMeet the whistleblowerGoel is a cancer survivor and a resident of Navi Mumbai He is one of the oldest members of the BGTA and has been running a transport business for the last three decades He said hed made initial payment and even registered documents pertaining to his booking of an 860sqm plot at WTT in 1992 He hasnt got his right over the property till date he alleged adding that BGTA members had fraudulently taken over his property and sold to other membersFact of the matterBGTA was supposed to construct 12 buildings seven threestoreyed structures two groundplusone buildings and three godownswarehouses The land was allotted in phases the procedure for which started in 1992 The agreement was also signed in the same year and the plot was given on a sublease of 18 years BGTA was supposed to complete the construction in three years but work is still pending despite MMRDAs conditional extension400BGTA members awaiting office spaces and godowns as per GoelCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go