Vasai landslide aftermath: Chawl builder mafia causing loss to state treasury

A hill was razed to make way for unauthorised chawls

The area in Vasai where a landslide took place on July 13, claiming two lives, is a mining hub for chawl builder mafia who brazenly flatten hills without any relevant permissions from the government. The mafia also do not pay any royalty to the government as mandated under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, thus causing loss to the state treasury.

Swapnil D'Cunha, activist and president of Vasai city MNS, alleged that the mafia, working together with local administration and government officials, razed hills on a 169-guntha private plot with survey number 146 (3) at Rajawali, Vasai, sold the soil and built chawls there, all without paying any royalty to the government.

Rajawali area of Vasai

D'Cunha said, "I had complained about the illegal cutting of hills on survey number 146 (1/2/3) to the tehsildar on December 13, 2021 and municipal corporation on December 31, 2021. I also sent them multiple reminders but they did not act on my complaints."

"Then I also called the Palghar collector and pointed out the rampant illegal activities in Waghralpada where tonnes of soil was sold illegally after razing hills in the past few years. The collector acted swiftly and a few officials inspected the plot with survey number 146-3, but there was no action on the other two plots," he added.

Ujjwala Bhagat, Vasai tehsildar

"After this, Vasai tehsildar slapped a R26-crore fine on the land owner on January 1 this year, but no payment has been made yet," he said, adding, "It has been six months, but government officials have done nothing to recover the fine. But mafia continue to raze most of the hills."

Ujjwala Bhagat, Vasai tehsildar, told mid-day, "It's true that the land owner of survey number 146 (3) in Rajawali has been slapped with a fine of Rs 26 crore."

"Vasai taluka is huge and it is impossible for me to keep an eye on every plot. So, I had given the charge to Talathi (village accountant) Abhimanyu Tare and Circle Officer Sanjay Sonawane but they did not do it," Bhagat said.

It is pertinent to note here that Sonawane was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) early this month along with a Nayab Tehsildar Pradeep Mukane for allegedly demanding bribes to make some entries into land records.

Speaking on the fine recovery process, Bhagat said, "We are now planning to send five to six notices to the land owner. If it is still not paid, we will auction the land to compensate for the heavy revenue loss."

When asked about how the land, which houses multiple chawls with hundreds of residents, would be auctioned, she said, "Yes, this will be a major hurdle, but something will be done."