Encroachment razed Sinhgad Road

PUNE, April 7: The anti-encroachment squad of the Pune Municipal Corporation yesterday demolished a two-storey unauthorised building on Sinhgad Road for road widening.

Gautam Waghchoure, chief of anti-encroachment department told media persons that the illegal building, owned by Charles Thomas, was demolished since the civic authorities had decided to pull down all the illegal structures in the merged 38 villages which had come up on the proposed roads in the development plan. He said the municipal corporation had sent a notice to the owner two months back, asking him to remove the illegal construction. He stated that the illegal structure housed a two wheeler show room and a service station. Waghchoure made it clear that the building owner had neither taken permission of the grampanchayat nor from the district collector.

The squad had demolished more than half of the building admeasuring about 7,500 square feet by late evening. The entire building was constructed with cement. The building had come up at survey no. 35/1.

It is the third major demolition action by the municipal corporation after 38 villages were merged in the municipal corporation. Earlier, the corporation had pulled down a huge building at Kondhwa and Ambegaon on Westerly bypass.