Dombivali: Action against three illegal buildings; Special demolition drive post Dussehra

In Dombivli West, which is known as a hotbed of illegal constructions, action was taken by the ward authorities on three illegal buildings in two days on Thursday and Friday. 

In Dombivli West, mafias have erected illegal buildings without taking permission from the municipality, obstructing the roads in the development plan. All these illegal buildings have come up in the last three to four years. Sandeep Rokde, the then assistant commissioner of this division, did not take any action against these buildings apart from issuing notices. After that, Assistant Commissioner Suhas Gupte has registered cases against more than 26 land mafias in the Vishnu Nagar Police Station.

Taking information from these criminal cases, the current assistant commissioner of this division, Sneha Karpe, has started planning and taking action against these old and new illegal buildings. Karpe has given orders to fellow employees that no new illegal constructions should be erected in this ward.

In the absence of sufficient police force, Karpe took two to three policemen from the municipal headquarters and took action against the illegal buildings of four floors in Dujgaon, seven floors near Mamal Society near Ganesh Vidyalaya in Nawapada, and seven floors near Bharatmata School in Old Dombivli. The activities of making these buildings habitable were started by the mafia. While the action was going on, some land mafia tried to stop the action by putting various kinds of political pressure on Karpe, which Karpe did not appreciate.

Action against road blockers

At Devichapada in Dombivli West, near Kalubai Devi Temple, next to Kabu Chhaya Bungalow, land mafia Jitu Mhatre has blocked a 15-metre development plan road of the municipality and erected a seven-story illegal building. After completing the building which was stalled for many months, the mafia has started the move to make the building suitable for habitation. A similar building has been built by Ashok Kamble on Subhash Street. In addition, in Rahul Nagar, three mafias have completed construction in the absence of access roads to illegal buildings.