State forms panels to study,raze illegal religious structures

The district collectorate will come up with details of such structures within a month’s time and the structures will be studied to see whether they obstruct traffic,are located on roads or foothpaths,are on land reserved for necessary services or whether they encroach government offices hospitals and educational institutions.

According to a GR issued by the Maharashtra government,the panels are to be formed at the state,district and corporation levels. The district panel will be headed by the district collector. For corporation areas,the municipal commissioner will head the panel.

The committee will have the police commissioner,ZP chief executive officer,PMC commissioner,president of the municipal council,members of cantonment boards,MIDC,CIDCO and MHADA.

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The resident deputy collector will be member-secretary. “Our team will assess details in a month’s time,’’ said resident deputy collector Anil Pawar.

“The matter of removal of structures will be in keeping with the sentiment of people and the need for removal,’’ he said.

The GR states that consideration will have to be made about antiquity,tradition,sensitivity and history of certain structures,which can be shifted to another location.

The GR states that corporations like Pune,Thane,Nagpur,Amravati,Aurangabad and Mumbai will have committees under the municipal commissioner. Time of six months has been given to all committees to identify and categorise such structures. The decision is as per a Supreme Court directive to states to prevent encroachment in the name of religion.