Jha owns flat in controversial project

The administration, which initially sought time to gather information about the ownership of the flat, was compelled to disclose the information by the corporators, who launched a virtual tirade against it. 8220;Do you want us to disclose that the flat belongs to Jha,8221; thundered former standing committee chairman Aba Bagul.

City engineer Madhav Harihar conceded that a stop work notice had been issued to the promoters on July 10, 1998, after part of an unconstructed building was found to be illegal. The administration was contemplating following it up with stern measures, including police intervention, since the notice had gone unheeded, he said.

It was left to assistant municipal commissioner special Arun Pardeshi to confirm that the flat was in the name of Ramanath and Vibha Jha while the property at Aundh was owned by Gopal Vajrani and Vijay Dadhe. The meeting concluded immediately after the disclosure.

The issue of the illegalities at Shirin Garden and the details of property tax arrears was raised by corporator Ujjwal Keskar. He sought to know the name of the municipal officer, who owned at flat at the posh residential complex.

Corporators Nitin Jagtap and Bagul jumped to their feet as Mayor Vatsala Andekar concluded the question-answer session, and demanded that the administration give satisfactory replies to queries raised by Keskar.

Bagul took the administration to task for pleading ignorance about large-scale unauthorised constructions coming up in the city. He was joined by Arun Dhimdhime, who demanded to know if concessions were made in case of Shirin Gardens since a former municipal commissioner owned a flat at the complex.