Beachfront resorts in Vasai-Virar under scanner; 4 demolished for flouting CRZ norms

According to Avinash Koshti, tehsildar of Vasai, after 50 people, who were running a fake call centre and duping Australians, were arrested from a farmhouse named Mayur Kutir, the police began checking other establishments on the beachfront to find out whether any illegal activities were going on there

Mumbai: After an illegal and fake call centre running in a beachfront farmhouse in Arnala, Virar West, was busted in April, the other sea-facing resorts and farmhouses in the area came under the scanner and it was unearthed that four resorts were running illegally. Last week, all four resorts were demolished.

Beachfront resorts in Vasai-Virar under scanner; 4 demolished for flouting CRZ norms

According to Avinash Koshti, tehsildar of Vasai, after 50 people, who were running a fake call centre and duping Australians, were arrested from a farmhouse named Mayur Kutir, the police began checking other establishments on the beachfront to find out whether any illegal activities were going on there.

While checking, the authorities found that the resorts were constructed on CRZ land and also the Hazard line and High tide line, he said, adding that based on the violations, they had served notices to the owners of the resorts named Arabian Sea View Cafe, Ocean Beach House, Cafe sea and Sand and Seacoast Farm Cafe at Navapur in Vasai and Virar coast.

“When there was no response from the owners of the resorts, the authorities demolished the four establishments,” Koshti said. “These illegal resorts have come up without taking any permission. Alcohol is served here, and there are a lot of illegal activities that go on in these resorts.” He added that there were a few complaints about these resorts and those were found to be in violation as the entire structure was on government land.

“There are hundreds of resorts and farmhouses in Vasai, Nalasoapra and Virar coast which are under the scanner now. Jointly with the police, we are conducting surprise checks and verifying the documents of these places before taking any action,” said Koshti

“We are also checking the private farmhouses in the areas of Arnala and other beachfront and checking the agreements of the tenants if they have been leased out following the pattern adopted in the Rajodi beachfront case,” said Kalyanrao Karpe, police inspector, Arnala police station.

Since April, the police have been conducting a combing operation in the area to find whether any other farmhouses or resorts are being used for illegal activities. “We keep a close watch on the tenants on these farmhouses,” Karpe said.

Rakesh Patil, who works for an NGO at Virar said that they have kept complaining about these illegal structures and resorts functioning without any licences, however, the police and government had done nothing, “There are two to three-storey structures built on the high tide line due to which lives could be lost,” added Patil.