No police protection: KDMC calls off demolition of illegal building

DOMBIVLI: The demolition of the seven plus storey illegal building that has come up on a plot reserved for a garden in Dombivli was cancelled by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) due to lack of police protection.

The KDMC commissioner Bhausaheb Dandge had asked the ward officer to carry out the demolition of the building on Thursday April 27, after activist cum architect from the city Sandeep Patil highlighted the illegal building on the reserved plot.

The building on reservation plot no 93 is almost complete and only some exterior work is pending. Patil has also earlier exposed the MahaRERA scam in which 65 projects from Kalyan Dombivli region were found to have produced a fake commencement certificate, the statutory approval required from a municipal authority.

According to Patil, the reserved plot is over 10,500 square meter area.

“Despite the KDMC chief assuring the demolition of the structure on Thursday, it was not done and the only reason for cancelling it is due to lack of police protection. The ward officer mentioned that the police did not give any protection till date even after requesting six times. The police, meanwhile, are claiming there is a pressure from senior political leaders due to which it is not given and delayed,” said Patil.

Patil alleged that in most cases of demolition of such big illegal buildings the police do not give protection and the reason is due to the political pressure they face.

“The police department plays an important role when it comes to razing an illegal building and in most cases, the police do not support it. They give protection for demolition of small houses and chawls, but not for such big buildings,” said Patil.

The illegal building is now almost complete, with only some exterior works remaining, However, it is not yet occupied by people. “Now since both the KDMC and police are not co-operating and taking action, I have decided to move the courts in this matter against the civic body and the police,” said Patil.

Patil has also acquired a letter from the Kalyan DCP addressed to the ward officer which states that the encroachment department of KDMC already has 35 police personnel and that staff shall be used for the demolition of the building.

​KDMC ward officer Bharat Patil, said, “The police have asked to use the 35 police team that belongs to the KDMC encroachment department which is for all wards. To demolish such big buildings, which is risky at times due to the involvement of local people, we need police protection from local police stations. We need at least 15-20 personnel which we have asked for. Once we get it, we will carry out the demolition.”

Kalyan zone 3 deputy commissioner of police Sachin Gunjal said,” The KDMC encroachment department already has a team of 35 policemen which can we used for the demolition work. We have already instructed the same to the concerned ward officer. If there is any law-and-order situation and additional protection is required, the local police is always available for all. The civic body should go ahead with the demolition work.”