Civic authorities raze 36 illegal bungalows on bank of Indrayani river near Pune
Pune, May 17 (PTI): Civic authorities in Pimpri Chinchwad near Pune on Saturday demolished 36 bungalows built illegally along the Indrayani River, an official said.
Acting on the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), officials and personnel from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), along with a heavy police cover, reached the River Villa project in Chikhali village in the morning, he said.
Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh said the civic body razed the bungalows as demolition drives cannot be carried out during the monsoon.
Activist Tanaji Gambhire, who had moved the NGT against the project, said the villas were constructed along the Indrayani river’s blue flood line, where development activities are banned. A blue line represents the level of flood likely to occur in a river once in 25 years.
In July 2024, NGT had asked the civic body to demolish all these 36 structures within six months. The green court had also ordered that Rs 5 crore be collected collectively from the bungalow owners as environmental damage compensation.
The PCMC subsequently started the process and began hearings of the bungalow owners.
Meanwhile, 29 bungalow owners approached the Supreme Court, but the apex court rejected their appeal. The land and bungalow owners then approached the NGT to review its order. However, the NGT also rejected their review petition, said an official.
After getting no relief from the NGT, the property owners again moved the SC.
The apex court on May 4 disposed of the appeal and ruled that PCMC should implement the NGT’s order to pull down the bungalows and collect Rs 5 crore towards damage to the environment.
PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh told PTI that someone tried to create confusion that the SC on May 4 had given six months to the corporation to take action.
“The Supreme Court just reproduced the NGT’s order in its May 4 ruling. It was NGT that had given 6 months (to PCMC) when it ordered the demolition in 2024. Today (on May 17), complying with the orders, we demolished all 36 illegal structures,” he said.
Singh said they will now implement the second part of the NGT order concerning the recovery of Rs 5 crore from the bungalow owners.
“I appeal to all the people in the city to check the zone, where a housing project is located, the layout, approval, and do due diligence before going for any purchase,” he said.
One of the bungalow owners said he and others bought the plots from M/s Jare World and M/s V Square in 2018. “We got the plots transferred in our names by completing the registration process of the government,” he said.
The bungalow owner claimed that although there was no permission, some PCMC officials asked them to go ahead with the construction.
“I spent more than Rs 1 crore to construct my bungalow, and I’m paying an EMI of Rs 68,000 even today. Had the PCMC taken action against the first bungalow after its construction, today’s situation would not have arisen,” he added.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
