29 villages of Palghar added back to the VVCMC

The Maharashtra government has re-included 29 Palghar villages in the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation to enhance local facilities and benefits.

MUMBAI: In a notice issued on August 14, the state government included 29 villages of Palghar district in the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC). The districts, which were a part of the VVCMC until 2011, had dropped out after political parties in the region refused to be a part of the corporation.

29 villages of Palghar added back to the VVCMC

The VVCMC was formed in 2009 by merging the four municipal councils of Vasai, Nalla Sopara, Naigaon and Virar. Vasai MLA Sneha Dube Pandit from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, “When the VVCMC was formed, 52 villages were a part of it.”

Addressing why the 29 villages had been added back to the corporation Pandit said, “Now that the Vadhavan port is coming and the coastal road is being extended to Palghar, we all want a share of the benefits.” Nalla Sopara MLA Rajan Naik from the BJP added that these villages would now get better facilities.

The VVCMC area was once controlled by the Hitendra Thakur led Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) and the MLAs of Vasai, Nallsopara and Virar belonged to the BVA. In 2024, the BVA lost all its seats to the BJP, and are now hoping to regain some power and capture the VVCMC again.