MUMBAI: A team of BMC officials, along with a strong police posse, on Monday returned to Union minister Narayan Rane’s Juhu bungalow, Adish, to carry out an inspection for alleged irregularities. Rane was at his residence all through the inspection which lasted around two hours.
Sources said the team will submit its report on the alleged irregularities and further action will be based on it.
The BMC action followed Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s warning that they would now start exposing the corruption of BJP leaders after former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya accused him of being linked to corrupt deals. Somaiya had earlier raised the issue of 19 bungalows purchased jointly by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and Sena MLA Ravindra Waikar’s wife Manisha in Alibaug.
The team had last week visited Rane’s Juhu bungalow for an inspection, but returned as he was not home. Rane, at a press conference on Saturday, had alleged it was “vengeance politics”, which was reiterated by state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, who said the party “stands firmly with Rane”.
Complaints about violations of Coastal Regulation norms, the erstwhile Urban Land Ceiling Act, illegal use of additional floor space index have been repeatedly made by various activists. Activist Santosh Daundkar said he has been complaining since 2017, while Bhagwanji Raiyani of Janhit Manch said he has filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay high court about the violations at Adish as well as other buildings in the vicinity but the matter is yet to come up for hearing.
Meanwhile, activist Pradeep Bhalerao, who had complained about the CRZ violations of another bungalow owned by Rane in Sindhudurg district last year, said his complaint had been forwarded by the regional office of the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change to the Maharashtra Coastal Management Authority in August 2021 for action, but no action has been taken so far.
