Making sheer mockery of the World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, the management and trustees of Akshara High School at Charkop, Sector 8, have recently built a three-storey school building on mangroves, without requisite permission from civic authorities. This is in complete violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) laws of Maharashtra government and a Bombay High Court order, which prohibits any kind of construction within 50 metres of mangroves.
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<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2014/aug/school-n-ground-top-view.jpg" alt="" /> The vanishing green belt: Locals allege school authorities have built the three-storey building and a playground &mdash; (circled in pic) &mdash; by illegally reclaiming the wetland. Pic/Shailesh Bhatia Sunday mid-day has in its possession documents from the Building Proposal department of R Ward, BMC, which have been given in response to a Right to Information (RTI) petition filed by local activist Reji Abraham. The documents state that no proposal has been submitted on the plot.&nbsp;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2014/aug/Garbage-on-the-banks.jpg" alt="PCMCs garbage depo" /> Akshara High School at Charkop, Sector 8. Pics/ShAILESH BHATIA &ldquo;Apart from the building on the mangroves, there&rsquo;s also a playground the size of a football field there. The wetland has been reclaimed illegally,&rdquo; alleged Abraham, president of United Association for Social Education and Public Welfare, an NGO. When contacted, ex-state minister and ex-president of&nbsp; Maharashtra Pradesh Congress party, Ranjeet Deshmukh, who&nbsp; owns Akshara High School, as confirmed by his manager Anil Nikadu, said that he possessed all requisite papers for the school&rsquo;s construction.
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<img title="Akshara High School at Charkop" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2014/aug/School.jpg" alt="Akshara High School at Charkop" /> Akshara High School at Charkop, Sector 8. Pics/Shailesh Bhatia Official speak Assistant Commissioner Kishore Gandhi (R Central) confirmed that he had received the complaint against the structure and has initiated a departmental inquiry. &ldquo;We have been given seven days to submit the report,&rdquo; he said.
Also read: <a href="http://www.mid-day.com/articles/is-the-citys-largest-wetland-being-mowed-down-on-the-sly/121603" target="_blank">Is Mumbai's largest wetland being mowed down on the sly?</a> Rampant encroachment &nbsp; Abraham alleged that the land mafia has been conducting illegal operations in Charkop. He claimed that despite bringing this to the notice of authorities from Building and Factory Department, R/ Central Ward, no strict action has been taken. &ldquo;The latest victim is the Charkop village, in the heart of the mangrove area, whose periphery is being encroached,&rdquo; he alleged.
Vishal Kamothi, a resident, stated that destruction of mangroves is affecting locals. &ldquo;Our area used to be a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of Mumbai, owing to the wetlands. But since few years, summers here have become unbearable,&rdquo; he said.

Ex-minister Ranjeet Deshmukh allegedly built Akshara High School at Charkop on the green zone without permission from BMC, hence violating state CRZ laws and a High Court order

Three-storey Mumbai school comes up on mangroves

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Three-storey Mumbai school comes up on mangroves

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