MUMBAI: When on one hand the rich people get absolved of the crime that they commit everyday, the poor next door suffer in the absence of powers to twist the law and bend the administrators.
The glaring example: the collector land leased out to kora kendra in Borivali west where the exhibitions and functions continue in one of the portions despite being not allowed as per the lease, the 25-years old chawl on another piece of the same land was evicted within a few hours despite the court's stay, leaving over 25-30 families homeless. Interestingly, certain parts of the land also have illegally built commercial shops, rooms and hotels which stand untouched by the authorities.
On April 3, damu mhatre chawl situated on a section of the collector land was demolished by deploying heavy men and machinery, despite the senior revenue staff being on strike. Incidentally, the other side of the same land was seen rented out for an exhibition that has been originally leased out to Khadi Village and industries association, a private trust also known as Kora kendra. Then revenue minister Chandrakantdada Patil had ordered to take back the kendra land citing commercial misuse in violation of the lease clause conditions which clearly stated that plots were for promotion of khadi products and for agriculture purposes and not for renting out to third parties for functions or exhibitions. However, later upon Patil's order Kora Kendra approached Bombay HC and obtained an order that said 'no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner' and thus managed to maintain the status quo. "However, no coercive steps does not mean renting out the area again and again going against the law," said Reji Abraham, a social activist.
According to Abraham there was a Bombay high court stay over the demolition of the damu mhatre chawl as well. "But even as the violation of the rules on the Kora Kendra side continues in the name of the court stay, the houses of the poor on the other side were smashed in just a few hours. CHildren of a few residents were appearing for exams while a few had bed-ridden patients who were thrown out along with their beds on the roadside," he and the affected residents pointed out to TOI while showing the papers of the stay orders issued by the high court in both the cases.
When asked from the suburban collector Rajendra Bhosale about the reasons behind the demolition in such a hurried manner, he said the officials conducted the drive after Damodar Mhatre, the original chawl builder, wrote a letter saying he is withdrawing his petition against the demolition notice issued to the chawl.
"It is true that the court has to decide on this action as well as his letter as the matter is subjudice," he added when asked why his men took a one-sided action when it was the court to decide on Mhatre's withdrawal letter and also on the earlier stay issued by the court. Similarly, when asked about why no stern actions were taken against the Kora Kendra violations similar to the ones against chawl residents, the collector admitted that kora Kendra too were illegally using the land and since the court has asked for 'no coercive action', it is again the court that has to decide. He, however, pointed out that after the then revenue minister's 2019 order around 17 acres out of 39 acres of land had been taken back by his office. "However, it's a clear case of selective demolition when the court has stayed actions on both," alleged Reji demanding stern action from the state as well as the judiciary.
