Why merger order delayed? 14 N Mumbai villages question CM

The residents, under the banner of Chauda Gaon Sarv Pakshiya Sangharsh Samiti (CGSPSS), once again met chief minister Eknath Shinde last week and reminded him of his assurances. Shinde assured them that he will call a meeting at Mantralaya in a week

NAVI MUMBAI

Why merger order delayed? 14 N Mumbai villages question CM

Despite a notification being issued in September last year, after years of demand being made, and repeated assurances, the residents of 14 villages located on the Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan border are wondering why the final order of the merger with Navi Mumbai is yet to be issued?

The residents, under the banner of Chauda Gaon Sarv Pakshiya Sangharsh Samiti (CGSPSS), once again met chief minister Eknath Shinde last week and reminded him of his assurances and the notification issued by his government for the merger. Shinde assured them that he will call a meeting at Mantralaya in a week to resolve the impasse.

The villages located near Shilphata junction had disassociated from Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation in 2007. The region is separated by a mountain from Navi Mumbai. The villagers had then claimed that they were being neglected.

However, in 2015, following years of no development in their region they took up the demand of merging with the city under the jurisdiction of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Following regular follow up by the Sangharsh Samiti, Eknath Shinde who was the urban development (UD) minister in the MVA government had in March last year announced a decision to merge the villages with NMMC.

There was again no action on it again until September when the state government with Shinde as the chief minister issued a notification for the merger and setting of new boundaries of NMMC. The notification asked for suggestions and objections to be submitted in a month on the decision. There has been no development since then as the villagers continue to wait for the final order, a government resolution (GR), to be issued.

Said Laxman Patil, president of CGSPSS, “We have met the CM several times for the order, and he has always given us a positive response. We have also met his son Shrikant Shinde under whose Kalyan Rural constituency our region falls, and he too has assured us of the order soon. However, nothing has happened despite the suggestions and objections period being completed and 9 months having elapsed since the notification.”

He informed, “We reminded Shinde again about the merger order when he came to Diva area now for a programme and asked us if we had any pending issues. We told him that unless he gives the order to his officials, nothing will happen. He then told us that he will call a meeting at Mantralaya in a week and get the order issued at the earliest.”

Dnyaneshwar Yandarkar, secretary of CGSPSS, “We don’t understand the reason for the delay. There has been little development in our region for years. The gram panchayat cannot afford the infrastructure work. Once the merger happens, the civic body can take it up.”

He added, “It is shocking and sad that an area situated next to developed regions is still in the pre-development era, as if it has been forgotten.”

Stated Bharat Bhoir, former panchayat samiti member, “The population of our area has grown manifold over the years. This has led to major issues of water, sewage, garbage and other such civic services.”

He lamented, “There is also the issue of large-scale encroachment of government land taking place in our area with little action being taken against it. There is so much unplanned development taking place here.”

Concluded Bhoir, “Our area residents have boycotted panchayat elections over the years to press for the merger. It is high time the final decision is made by the government.”

Box

The 14 villages

Dahisar, Mokashi, Walivali, Pimpri, Nighu, Navali, Waklan, Bamarli, Narivali, Bele, Nagaon, Bhandarli, Uttar Shiv and Goteghar.

Box

The history

NMMC was formed in December 1991 by including 45 villages of Thane zilla parishad. These included the 14 villages located on the other side of Parsik hill which were not a part of CIDCO’s Navi Mumbai project. They have now been included in the NAINA project area of CIDCO.

NMMC had then spent around ₹75 cr on various civic infrastructure in the area, constructing roads, providing water supply, mother and child health centre, urban health posts and primary schools.

The villagers, however, feared losing their land to NMMC and taking up the issue of tax and civic amenities, they formed a Sangharsh committee to separate the villages from NMMC.

There was a lot of violence that followed in the area, with houses of those opposing it being set on fire in the villages. There were also reports that the land mafia was promoting violence as there were reportedly a large number of illegally constructed godowns in the area.