Thane DP swallows Yeoor

However, gift-wrapped and almost invisible was a freebie for the owners of the controversial 123 plush but unauthorised bungalows which nestle in the verdant Yeoor Hills: The conversion from a green belt into a tourism zone will pave the way for regularisation of these palatial bungalows owned by several corporators from Thane and as well as others whose political patronage has spared the structures from the bulldozers8217; fury for six years.

The modification pertaining to the Yeoor Hills was proposed under Section 31 of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, 1966, among 259 others, both major andminor. It has been classified as a major modification in Schedule I of the DP.

The draft DP, which was submitted by the Thane Municipal Corporation TMC in February 1996, was finally notified by the state government on October 4, 1999. It has now been put up for public scrutiny during which time objections and suggestions have been invited. Civic sources say the Yeoor modification was incorporated in August, only a month before the state Assembly elections were held. It is only after the modifications are passed that the government will frame rules for the recreation tourism zone that will decide the fate of the controversial bungalows, two of them owned by Sens chief Bal Thackeray8217;s son Jaidev.

A G Girkar, assistant director, Town Planning, TMC, told Express Newsline: 8220;The modifications are open to suggestions and objections for 60 days, after which the government will take a final decision, based on the recommendations of the officer appointed to study the suggestions and objections to all themodifications. The rest of the DP will take effect on November 22.8221;

The bungalows, built in 1993-94 during the reign of the Sharad Pawar-led Congress government, were constructed on land illegally seized from the local adivasis.

However, the owners have managed to protect their structures thanks to patronage from politicians of all hues.

The bungalows had raised a hail of protest in December last year, when the TMC sought to demolish them. However, no sooner had the TMC demolished 18 of the 141 structures than the corporators, cutting across party lines, sought the dismissal of Municipal Commissioner T S Chandrashekhar. Three days later, on December 5, the Manohar Joshi-led government clamped a stay on the demolition, with Sena chief Bal Thackeray describing the demolition as 8220;a damage to national property8221;. The move to oust Chandrashekhar was also stonewalled by the state government.

With crores of rupees at stake, the corporators spied their first chance to get the bungalows regularised in 1996,when the draft DP was being prepared. During a General Body meeting, they had passed a resolution for the construction of a cultural and sports complex in the Yeoor area. This was seen as a step towards regularising their bungalows by first converting the green belt area of Yeoor into a regular plan area. The state government had, however, rejected the plan.

Now the bungalow owners have more than a mere glimmer of hope to keep what was never rightfully theirs.