In Chikhali | PCMC to demolish 29 bungalows in for violating green laws, residents say were cheated

Nikam said the PCMC will conduct a hearing of the residents who have constructed the bungalows and then initiate action. “We will give them an opportunity to represent their case before and then initiate action in the matter,” Nikam said.

Asked why the PCMC did not act when the bungalows were being constructed, Nikam said, “We had issued notices to them and had even demolished a few structures when we came across them. They continued construction, however.”
Nikam said the blue flood line – an imaginary line that marks the possibility of floods in an average 25-year period – differs in every suburb of Pimpri-Chinchwad. “In this particular case, the blue line was up to 150 metres.
These bungalows have come up within this no-construction zone,” he said.

Environmentalist Prashant Raul said he had brought the illegal constructions to the PCMC’s notice. “The PCMC had then told me that the matter was already pending before the National Green Tribunal,” he said. Raul further alleged that the builder managed to get a sewage treatment plant removed from the area, dumped debris in the Indrayani River and chopped down several trees.

Sanjeev Sangale, chairman of Chikhali-Moshi Pimpri-Chinchwad Cooperative Housing Society Federation said, “When we had brought this activity to the notice of the PCMC two years ago, I was threatened. After that, I withdrew from the matter.”

PCMC’s defence

When asked as to why PCMC turned a blind eye to the construction activity at the spot, Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh said, “We had issued notices to the owners of the buildings when the fact was brought to our notice that they were violating blue line norm set by the irrigation department. Also, last month we demolished at least 13 buildings in the area. These buildings were not part of the 29 buildings. We did not touch the 29 buildings as the matter had been sub-judice, pending before the National Green Tribunal.”

The commissioner said the PCMC will hold a hearing of the residents as per the directives of the NGT. “The hearings will be held at the zonal office level, after which we plan to initiate the necessary action,” Singh added.
Tanaji Gambhire, a resident of Shukrawar Peth in Pune, is the petitioner in the case.

What the residents say

Mahesh Patil, one of the residents, said till the NGT order came, they had no clue that the area where the bungalows are constructed was a no-construction zone or that it came under the blue flood line.
”When we bought the plots, there were boards in the area which stated that it was a Residential Zone,” said Patil.

Patil said the PCMC did issue notices to them. ”But the notices pertained to some illegal constructions done by residents. Nowhere the notices mentioned that we had constructed our structures in a no-construction zone,” Patil said.

Patil said PCMC collected property tax, water tax and MSEDCL collected electricity bills. ”PCMC has even constructed roads in the area. If our structures were illegal, then why did PCMC collect property tax and water tax?,” he asked.

Patil said even the sub-registrar’s office of the state government registered their properties. ”If our structures were illegal, why did they register our properties?,” he asked again.

Patil said they were all cheated and are now in a state of stock. ”I had purchased two guntha (measure of area) of land for Rs 17 lakh. I spent Rs 65 lakh on constructing a one floor structure. I have taken loans from three banks. As news of our structures being illegal spread, my son got a shock…He is now in ICU of a private hospital.”
Patil said most of the residents had purchased either half guntha of land or one or two gunthas of land in 2019.

”In 2020, we constructed the structures and soon after started living here,” he said. When contacted, developer Manoj Jare said, ”Our role is limited to selling the plots to the residents. We have not constructed the buildings. The residents have themselves constructed the buildings.

Jare said, ”The blue flood line is wrongly marked by the irrigation department. It was marked as per the 1990 survey. How can the bluelines be marked by an old survey? Besides, the blue lines are vastly different in Chikhali, Moshi and Charholi areas. There is no standard blue line. We have written to the state government asking to define the exact blue line and set the record straight…The residents are now planning to move the Bombay High Court.”

What the NGT order says

In the order, the NGT said, “The respondents are directed to demolish the illegal structures constructed in the prohibited area of the blue flood line of Indrayani River and to restore the area to its original position along with the consequential reliefs.”

The order further said that the construction occurred in the prohibited area “without any permission from the concerned authorities” and that the project proponents gave rise to “substantial questions relating to implementation of the environment protection and improvement enactments listed in Schedule-I of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010”.

Pointing out that the petitioner’s application says that the Indrayani River passes through the town Alandi, which is a renowned pilgrimage place because of the town’s association with Sant Dnyaneshwar, the NGT order said “huge pollution is happening in the water of that river”.

“The project in question is a part and parcel of the Indrayani River and is reserved as a Green Zone where bungalow construction is prohibited under DC [Development Control] Rules of PCMC. The PCMC incorporated the marking of flood lines on their Development Plan on 18.08.2009 vide EP-87 and that the project in question is shown as affected by the prohibited blue flood line,” the order said.