People Power! How Kandivli locals won back a 30,000 sq ft park

The Lokayukta has ordered that the playground be open from 6 am to 7 pm for the general public PicsSatej ShindeFor the city fighting hard to protect its open spaces heres a win The Lokayukta has come down heavily on Akshara School in Kandivlis Sector 8 for illegally occupying a nearly 30000sq ft playground meant for locals denying them rightful access to it from the time it was constructed in 2008Acting on the orders issued by justice ML Tahaliyani a team from MHADA accompanied by the local police entered the school yesterday afternoon to paste a notice that the ground which was being used as a private property is now open for allRightful reclamationIn a threepage concise judgment a copy of which is with midday the Lokayukta states that a notice was issued to MHADA the actual owners of the plot to explain its position In its response MHADA admitted that its lease agreement states that the playground shall be open for the neighbourhoods children and publicAlso read Threestorey Mumbai school comes up on mangrovesThe Authority has initiated proceedings by issuing a notice to Vidya Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Nagpur the trust run by former minister Ranjeet Deshmukh that built the school stating that action would be taken if the conditions of the agreement are breachedThe Lokayukta has directed that the gates of the playground be kept open from 6 am to 7 pm for the general public It adds that whosoever prevents MHADA officials from opening the gates will face prosecution for using criminal force against public servants with an intention to prevent them from doing their duty and a FIR will be lodged against such offending persons under section 353 of the IPC by the police who will also file charges against the accused under section 341 wrongful restraint Two constables will be deployed at the site to ensure that the order is followedPeople powerThe order advocates that MHADA take all necessary steps such as issuing press releases and putting up notices at conspicuous places to inform that the ground can be used by children without any fearActivist Reji Abraham president of the United Association for Social Education and Public Welfare who has been fighting for the cause for over three years called it a major victory and implementation of the right of the common man to access an open space marked for sports and recreationThe school has illegally usurped the playground and misused ithellip it believes it is above the laws governing common people courtesy its alleged political connections said Abraham who is also a nonofficio member of a state government committee for protection and conservation of mangroves in MumbaiOfficialspeakWhen midday reached out to the school authorities for their side of the story we were told that the principal was out of the country and given the number of their advocate Vivek Shukla Shukla deemed the entire MHADA action of reclaiming the ground as illegal amounting to trespassingWe have a stay from the high court the case is subjudice We were not given any prior notices or made party to the Lokayukta hearing All our permissions are in order he saidMHADA vice chairman and chief officer Subash Lakhe however rubbished Shuklas claims He said We are carrying out the instructions given by the Lokayukta who had examined all claims and counterclaims since June 2016 when the first order was passed against the school The action taken by MHADA is apt and in accordance with the lease deed preconditions and guidelinesEstate manager of MHADA Yogesh Deshmukh who was present on the site from 1230 pm to 3 pm informed that they have put up boards and posters informing the public that as of Monday the ground is open for all they have even kept the Charkop police in the loop to ensure security and avoid any untoward incidents