Cong-NCP counters move to stop illegal construction

A decision on the proposal to appoint a committee headed by a retired high court judge for the purpose was held in abeyance by the standing committee on Thursday with the ruling alliance saying the scope of the initiative was too narrow and other parameters needed to be brought in. The move was countered by the Opposition,saying it was an attempt to dilute the objective of keeping a check on the rampant illegal construction in the city.

“There are many illegal activities going on in the civic jurisdiction. The civic body should include all of them,” said Nilesh Nikam,NCP leader in the PMC and also the Leader of the House.

He said a decision on the proposal was postponed for 15 days so that more issues could be included. “We would like to take inputs from all the elected representatives by urging them to furnish all the illegal activities that have been going on in their respective electoral ward,” Nikam said.

A senior civic officer said the proposal was drafted to focus on illegal construction,including slums. “The situation is very serious as illegal constructions have taken place on ‘no development zone’,cutting across natural streams in the city,” he said,adding that any attempt to include other illegal activities under the purview of the committee would undermine the very purpose of such an initiative.

BJP leader Mukta Tilak said it was unfortunate that the ruling alliance was not supporting the proposal. “The ruling alliance is purposely delaying the decision even though the Opposition parties have extended their support to the appointment of the committee. The NCP has been publicly expressing its concern over depleting green cover of the city but now they are behaving in a contradictory manner,” she said.

Corporator Ujjwal Keskar said it was a welcome step by the civic chief. “The ruling alliance seems to be working in the interest of the real estate industry. Implementation of 35 per cent of the development plan in 20 years is a very poor performance,” he said.