Navi Mumbai: Demolition raises temperatures in Digha

Sitting in the balcony of his house watching a neighbouring building being demolished yesterday 13yearold Digha resident Prathamesh Mane could not understand why the house where he has been staying with his parents for past four years will also be turned into rubble todayBased on a PIL the Bombay High Court on September 23 directed CIDCO and MIDC to raze illegal structures in Digha Demolition began on Monday Prathamesh Mane below watches a neighbouring building being demolished The building where he stays will also be demolished today PicsSameer MarkandeFollowing the Bombay High Courtrsquos directives on September 23 officials from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation MIDC have started demolishing illegal structures in Digha Navi Mumbai from Monday The building where he stays Keru Plaza is also illegalHigh Court directiveBased on a PIL filed by activist Rajeev Mishra and Mayura Maru the Bombay High Court on September 23 directed CIDCO and MIDC to raze illegal structures in Digha Out of the 94 illegal buildings 90 have come up on MIDC land and four on CIDCO landOn Monday MIDC officials razed two buildings Shivram and Parvati apartments amidst angry protests from locals On Tuesday occupants of Keru Plaza were asked to evacuate the building Officials from MIDC said that they will continue the drive until further orders from the courtSpeaking to midday Avinash Mali deputy engineer MIDC said ldquoAs per the High Court directive we will continue our demolition drive and will not stop until new orders come from the courtrdquoMeanwhile Belapur MLA Manda Mhatre told midday that she along with NMMC opposition leader Vijay Chougule MP Rajan Vichare and state PWD minister Eknath Shinde met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday ldquoWe had a meeting with the Chief Minister on the Digha issue which he promised to look intordquo she saidPolitical lobbyCommenting on the status of illegal structures in Mumbai like Campa Cola as well as in Mumbra and Ulhasnagar advocate Vinod Sampat pointed out that illegal structures prevail everywhere however action is not taken against each due to presence of local political lobbiesldquoPresence of a powerful political lobby is the reason behind illegal structures prevailing in these areas However in Digha that does not seem to be the case and hence the demolition has not stoppedrdquo he said It should also be noted that majority of the population staying in Digha belongs to the economically weaker sections of societyResidents want justicePrathameshrsquos parents feel cheated by the developer as they had purchased the one room kitchen flat in the year 2011 by depositing Rs 12 lakh ldquoI see my parents crying They say that we cannot stay in this building and will have to look for a new houserdquo said a nervous PrathameshlsquoResidents paid taxesrsquoAnother resident of Keru Plaza 42yearold Mandakani Salian said that she bought a house in the building in the year 2012 and regularly paid tax water and electricity bills ldquoFrom 2012 I have been paying all the required taxes to the municipal body If the structure was illegal then why was NMMC collecting taxes from us and why did MSEB officials give an electricity connection to our buildingrdquo she askedSalian has shifted all her belongings to her motherrsquos place in Bhandup ldquoI have left my sixyearold daughter at my motherrsquos place It is the responsibility of the local authorities to make temporary rehabilitation arrangements for us Nobody has come to help We are here with no food since Tuesdayrdquo she added