Razing of 34 illegal buildings in Achole begins, residents on the streets

Fifteen families in Nalasopara East were evicted as their homes, built on illegally developed land, were demolished, leaving them homeless amid ongoing corruption.

MUMBAI: Fifteen-year-old Garima Gupta, A Std X student in a Hindi-medium school in Vasai, made her way home after taking an examination on Thursday but found to her utter shock and dismay that her home had been demolished.

Razing of 34 illegal buildings in Achole begins, residents on the streets

“People are getting houses free, but my father had bought this house with his hard-earned money and now we have lost it. Not only do I have to cope with this loss, I don’t know how I will manage to study for the remaining exams with our family rendered homeless,” said Gupta.

The 15-year-old and her family is among 15 families who were evacuated from Om Tulsi Apartments – one of 41 unauthorised buildings in Achole in Nalasopara East, built by unscrupulous builders on land reserved for civic amenities. Their predicament is the human toll taken by corruption that has become endemic in a system that allows developers to thrive at the cost of regular folk.

Last year, the Supreme Court had ordered 41 buildings in Achole to be demolished. Seven of these buildings, which were dangerously dilapidated and vacated by their occupants, have already been demolished by the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC). The civic body on Thursday started razing the remaining 34 illegal buildings, which will render around 8,000 residents of Jai Ambe Welfare Society homeless.

The civic body had issued eviction notices to 2,500-odd families residing in these buildings in October last year. In November, the VVMC razed seven buildings that had been vacated. However, on Thursday, the civic body forcefully evicted occupants of Om Tulsi Apartments and started its demolition at 10 am. The demolition went on till 5.00pm. Heavy police presence has been deployed for the civic action.

Outcry and anger

VVMC officers arrived at Om Tulsi Apartments on Thursday morning and began evicting the residents. Some of them resisted the attempt but later removed their furniture and other possessions, piling them up near the building.

“We have nowhere to go,” said 64-year-old Usha Hatwar, tears rolling down her cheeks. Hatwar lived on the second floor of the building with her son, who works as a daily wager. “We owned a tea stall in South Mumbai and after my husband’s death in 2009, I sold the stall and bought this house and one gala by paying ₹7 lakh. We have electricity bills, even property tax receipts. How can our homes be illegal,” asked the distraught 64-year-old.

The 15 families residing in Om Tulsi Apartments were evicted using police force and their belongings were dumped on the road. One of them said political leaders had assured them that their houses would not be demolished. “We voted based on this assurance, but now MLA Raj Naik has turned his back on us,” claimed Geeta Gupta, a resident of the building.

“We have electricity bills. We pay municipal taxes. We bought our house with our hard-earned money. Why are we being made homeless now? The government has turned a blind eye towards us,” said Nikita Parulekar, a mother of three who has been sitting in the sun with her belongings and her children – with nowhere to go.

According to Mohan Sankhe, Assistant Commissioner of D Ward, “The action was delayed due to the time we took to evict the residents. All the buildings will be evicted in the next three days.”

Civic officials said that the plot in question covers 30 acres, including survey numbers 22 to 30. Some of the land was privately owned, while portions were reserved for a dumping ground and a sewage treatment plant.

In 2006, former corporator Sitaram Gupta and his son Arun Gupta began illegal construction of buildings on the land. Since they had not secured planning permissions, a commencement certificate (CC) or occupancy certificates (OC), the structures were deemed unauthorised. Between 2010 and 2012, 41 illegal buildings were constructed in the area.

In response, landowner Ajay Sharma filed a public interest petition in the Bombay High Court, leading to a court decision ordering the municipal corporation to evict the residents of the 41 buildings. Consequently, the VVMC issued eviction notices.

In September 2022, Sitaram Gupta, a former corporator of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) party in the Vasai-Virar region, was arrested by the Achole police. He was accused of land grabbing, involving both private and government properties, and constructing 41 illegal buildings in the Mauje area of Achole, Vasai East, 20 years ago. Gupta allegedly produced a bogus Completion Certificate (CC) for one of the buildings from CIDCO and the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC). Today, thousands of families are paying the price.