After the Navi Mumbai police played the role of a peacemaker, Kamothe’s villagers and builders on Wednesday decided to constitute a committee to flesh out their differences.
At the end of the nearly three-hour meeting at the police station on Wednesday evening, both groups decided a committee comprising five representatives from each group would be formed to sort out the differences between the two groups.
The police arranged the meeting following Tuesday’s mammoth protest at Kamothe node with villagers demanding exclusive rights to supply construction material in the node even as the builders alleged arm-twisting tactics and supply of sub-standard material.
Member of Legislative Assembly Vivek Patil and former Member of Parliament DB Patil attended the meeting to represent the villagers’ interests while the builders were represented by the Mansarovar Kamothe Builders and Developers Welfare Association (MKBDWA).
“Both sides have agreed that five representatives from each side will form a committee to discuss the issue of rate, quality, auction procedure etc and arrive at a common policy on Thursday. There will be another meeting at the police station on Friday when the decision of the committee will be announced. In future too all issues will be resolved by this committee,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Pravin Pawar.
“The villagers and the builders had agreed in 2004 on the issue of supply of materials to the sites. However, several issues have cropped up since which have not been resolved. We decided to act as facilitators between the two sides to help them reach an amicable solution,” added Pawar.
{{/usCountry}}“The villagers and the builders had agreed in 2004 on the issue of supply of materials to the sites. However, several issues have cropped up since which have not been resolved. We decided to act as facilitators between the two sides to help them reach an amicable solution,” added Pawar.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking for the villagers, Vivek Patil said: “The basic policy that needs to be decided is the rate revision. If the committee fails to reach an agreement, we will decide on it during our meeting on Friday.”
The builder community cautiously welcomed the outcome. “The rate issue is expected to be resolved, but I feel the core issue is the auction of the contract tender in the village,” said Prakash Baviskar, general secretary MKBDWA.
“This eventually results in a contractor having to pay from his revenue and the builder has to therefore pay the contractor a higher amount. If a contractor has to pay a substantial amount of his receipt to the village, he is bound to resort to ways to cut corners. In fact, if such an auction is stopped, the builders will only be happy to do something for the village development on their own.”
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