Government relief for illegal houses

Giving relief to the residents of illegal buildings in Digha, Navi Mumbai, on humanitarian grounds, the state government on Friday gave an assurance that it is filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court to protect the structures. The government has also taken a policy decision for the entire state to give protection to illegal buildings, minister of state for urban development Ranjit Patil said in the Assembly.

NCP MLAs raised the issue in the House that the court had given a deadline of July 31 to vacate the buildings. A few days before the deadline gets over, the state Cabinet decided to regularise the structures.

“We are going to file an affidavit in the court to protect the structure. The Cabinet has already decided so. We ensure that the affidavit will be submitted in the court within the given timeframe. This is a policy change that we have made for the entire state. The chief minister, who is out of town at present, will return and make the announcement,” Mr Patil said.

NCP group leader Jayant Patil said that the Digha residents were given a deadline of July 31, which will get over on Sunday.

It is an issue concerning 96 buildings and the government should help the residents there, he said. Local NCP MLA Sandeep Naik said that 25,000 people will be in trouble if the buildings are razed. The government should not ignore the issue at the last minute, he said.

The buildings and structures were earlier outside the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporations's limit. Some of them were constructed without permission and the builders did not seek permission from the civic body.

The Supreme Court, on June 16, had restricted the local authorities from razing the illegal buildings at Digha.

The apex court then accepted the Maharashtra government’s submission that as per a 2001 resolution, no demolition should be carried out during the monsoon period.