TMC razes Naupada man's home by mistake instead of illegal structure

Officials from the Thane Municipal Corporation wrongly bring down innocent man’s family home in Naupada instead of demolishing the four-storey illegal structure next to it

Ulhas Madye lost his family home in Naupada after officials 'mistakenly' razed it down instead of the building next to it

Thane Municipal Corporation's (TMC's) 'galti se mistake' has cost a Naupada family their decades-old home. Civic workers recently demolished a 300-sqft house instead of the building, tagged dangerous and served a notice, next to it. While TMC has termed it as an oversight, assuring the house owner of a new home, the owner suspects it to be a deliberate action as he had refused to give up his house and move, as other residents in the area had done, in the name of redevelopment.

Naupada resident Ulhas Madye has alleged that the Thane Municipal Corporation demolished his house deliberately and illegally

Owner of the house Ulhas Madye, 59, said the family had approached the Naupada police after the demolition on July 22, but they refused to file a case.

They have approached Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and TMC commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal for action over the "illegal" demolition of their house "to favour developers and make way" for another building. A team from CMO visited the site on Sunday and assured action.

Without a roof
Ulhas said the family had been living in that house since 1970. "In 1980, all the adjoining houses went for redevelopment and up came the building James Cottage next to our house. In 2015, TMC had sent a notice to it, declaring it dangerous," he added.

Also read - Mumbai: 15 families rendered homeless as BMC demolishes Bandra building

"Instead of demolishing the building, they demolished our house when no one was there. They even threw away all the belongings... The cupboard had silver ornaments, important documents and cash, all of which is missing."

Also read - Mumbai: Callous BMC razes wall of pre-school with kids still inside

Ulhas, who had first approached Assistant Municipal Commissioner (Naupada division) Maruti Gaikwad, said "Gaikwad realised their mistake and assured us that they would rebuild our house once they were done demolishing the building. However, when I pointed out that no spot panchnama (to make a note of the possessions) was done, which is a norm, they had no answer. When I asked them about my belongings, they didn't know anything about that either."

Outside help
Thane activist Rahul Shelar, who is helping the family, said, "The building has been mired in controversy for the last few years. It had permission for only three stories, but they built a fourth one. Twice in the past it was served notice, and both times, the fourth floor was demolished. This time, the entire building was supposed to be razed down. They took down the house because it was the lone hurdle in authorities' path."

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