Thane society residents: Builder sent men to chop our garden!

Some of the plants allegedly uprooted and chopped by the builders' men in the society

The residents of a housing society in Siddheshwar Garden, Dhokali at Thane, have alleged that a builder cut and uprooted 170 plants from their garden, to try and get hold of the land, which he owned before. They have also alleged that the police and the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) ignored their constant complaints about Tirupati builders. Upset, they plan to approach the state Human Rights Commission for justice.

Manisha Patil, one of the residents of Takshila society said, "Our builder took this land from Tirupati builders some years back and constructed the building. Our society was registered in 2007 but in 2012 Tirupati builders started claiming this land and we approached the sessions court regarding this. In 2013 we got a stay on the building land and the court said that the builder or society members can't do anything on the rest of the premises which have the garden. On June 19 Tirupati builder's men came along with JCB machines into our society and started removing the trees."

"We tried to stop them but they called the police, who threatened us saying they will file a case against us if we interfere in the builder's work. His men destroyed the 170 trees we had planted," added Kaushalya Morya, another resident. Rohit Joshi, an environmental activist said, "Ideally the police should take action under the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975 Act, 20 (A)."

Tree and Garden Department officer K Dhavde claimed he was not aware of the residents' complaint which was given to his "juniors'. He said, "When I found out about it, I sent a show-cause notice to the builder and we will file an FIR against him once he replies to it. The builders' men showed a permission of 2016 for chopping the trees, which was valid for six months only."

However, Kapurbawdi police station SPI A Deshmukh said, "We have asked the builder to show the permission for cutting the trees. If it is not valid we will take action." Sujay Muluskar, Manager, Legal & Liasoning at Tirupati builders refused to comment.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates