9,500 structures in Ambernath declared illegal

As per the AMC survey, the city has more than 9,500 illegal structures. Whether the fate of the residents of these structures will be the same as that of those staying in the illegal buildings of Ulhasnagar is still to be decided
Ambernath seems to be following the footsteps of the neighbouring Ulhasnagar city as far as matters of illegal construction is concerned.
A survey by the Ambernath Municipal Council (AMC), revealed the existence of 9,500 unlawful structures in the city. What's more shocking is that a majority of these structures are constructed on government land.
It should be noted that a resident of Vasai had registered a PIL with the High Court regarding illegal structures of Thane district. As per the Court's order, all the municipal corporations and councils of the district, started surveys to find out the number of illegal structures that were built after 1996, in their respective jurisdictions.
It was found that the city of Ambernath has more than 9,500 illegal structures and out of that, more than 75 per cent are constructed on government land. Only 2,500 of 9,500 are constructed on private land, whereas the remaining 7,000 are on public land.
The illegal structures are reported in Mahalkshminagar, Shivajinagar, Javsai, Phulenagar, Kailashnagar, Kamalakarnagar, Vandrapada, Balajinagar, Kansai and Krishnanagar.
However, unlike Ulhasnagar, Ambernath contains illegal structures in slums also. Officials when quizzed about the same admitted that there were illegal structures in the city but mostly are chawls and not buildings. "The illegal structures in the city are largely in slum areas.
There is not a single illegal building in the city. Hence, the report only contains number of illegal chawls," informed an AMC official requesting anonymity.
"We were bound to present the report within a week and hence, instead of city survey, we conducted departmental survey to find out the number of illegal structures," informed Vinod Dawle, Chief Officer with the AMC.
He added that the details have been sent to the district collector. However when asked about the fate of the residents of these illegal structures, this official refused to comment. domkalplus@gmail.com
Figure out the facts9500: number of illegal structures2500: structures on private land7000: structures on public land
Posted On Saturday, April 19, 2008
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