Vasai illegal construction: 19 employees transferred from VVCMC town planning department

Earlier this month, the ED revealed that as many as 41 illegal buildings were built in the area since 2009 with the help of VVCMC officials

MUMBAI: Nineteen employees of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation’s (VVCMC’s) town planning department have been transferred to other departments after an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) revealed large-scale illegal construction on government and private land under its jurisdiction.

Vasai illegal construction: 19 employees transferred from VVCMC town planning department

Earlier this month, the ED revealed that as many as 41 illegal buildings were built in the area since 2009 with the help of VVCMC officials, particularly YS Reddy, the deputy director of town planning. During a raid at Reddy’s properties, the agency found cash worth ₹8.6 crore and diamond-studded jewellery and bullion worth ₹23.25 crore.

According to the ED, the 41 illegal buildings were constructed on land reserved for a sewage treatment plant and a dumping ground. Following the raids, the agency’s focus shifted to employees of the VVCMC’s town planning department.

The decision to transfer officials from the town planning department was taken on Wednesday after VVCMC commissioner Anilkumar Pawar met Kuldeep Vartak, the former president of the Vasai Virar Youth Congress, who claimed that they had been working there for more than three years without any transfer. After the meeting, Pawar reviewed the transfer status of the department’s employees and acted against 19 of them.

Vartak said that the town planning department will now be corruption-free. “We expect that the illegal construction in the Vasai-Virar area will now be curbed,” he added.

Pawar said the administration of the town planning department would be as people-oriented as possible, adding that he is trying to improve the department’s image in the public.