Aj-mera, Kal Tera….
About 7 acres of land at Dahisar (Property Register Card of CTS No.867 of village Eksar, Taluka Borivali belonged to Ajmera builders (M/s Nisalp Realties LLP). They had purchased it from someone called Mascarenhas. When they purchased it, reservation on this approx. 7-acre land was that of RG, PG & Hospital. And even today, the same reservation remains so. There are 3500 families (15,000 people) staying on this land parcel. Staying means “Encroachment”. Yes, entire land of 7 acre is encroached. Some of them have been staying here since last 50 years.
A brief how the MCGM has treated Ajmera in last 10 years…Ajmera issued a Purchase Notice in 2010 to his ward R/North for this land parcel of 7 acres. In 2011 Improvement Committee had a site visit. It unilaterally passed a decision to acquire the land. BMC issued a notification to this effect. The notification went to the Collector office as per due process. Collector had a site visit and gave a report that the land parcel is ‘encumbered’ and is ‘encroached’ fully. Mind you, MCGM could have stopped here, but it didn’t.
BMC remained adamant on acquiring it any cost as it is in reservation & maintained, “we have received a purchase notice”. Then the Collector calculated assessment/Solatium as per the old LARR act so that advance can be initiated by the BMC, & in turn (since the pressure from top was solid) the BMC immediately deposited Rs. 55 crores to the Collector office as advance or part-payments towards the award. Then came 2014 (In 2019 through a circular MC Pardeshi had stopped this habit of issuing advances & part payment of award) It is in this year when the BMC issued ‘measurement payment’ to the Collector. But then, there was no measurement done by the Collector office. Then every process stops for nearly 4 years.
In the beginning of 2018 Ajmera writes to the MCGM that now either you denotify the land parcel or acquire it. Now don’t know how but Ajmera’s problem of 8 years is noticed by then LoP Dhananjay Munde (😜) and he presents this case in the Upper House. Minister Ranjit Patil replied that within 2 weeks measurements will be done & in 4 weeks time ward will be parted. Finally, in 2018 land parcel gets measured & after valuation is done, it is sent to then Divisional Commissioner which in turn gets sanctioned to and passed to the Land Acquisition Officer to pass the award.
After lot of dilly-dallying with reasons such as “encroached land’ and “Collector should review” (award was sanctioned by Div Comm & not by Collector) tactic BMC tries to stall the acquisition. But Improvement Committee was motivated & they got it passed in General Body too (earlier it had rejected). Then finally on the 10th February 2020, “after many adjustments” BMC wrote to the Collector to part the award to the Ajmera’s and by the 15th February said payment will be done. OK just FYI, the award is way lesser than the ready-recknor rates. The award of Rs. 336 crores has 100% solatium. The basic award is that of Rs. 125 crores +100% Solatium (ex-gracia) & some Rs. 86 crores interest because of the delay as per the new act on 1.1.2014.
Story was not this…Story is Ajmera got his money even if less or more, I don’t care. It is definitely more than he had bought from Mascarenhas. I’m concerned about the intentions of the BMC and the fate of 15000 people living there. No society has been formed, no SRA has been approached and there are NO plans whatsoever for their relief & rehabilitation. People who have lived there for 50 years don’t have anything in their hand.
In the meanwhile, twist in the tale comes now– Ajmera has now challenged this decision of the award (after receiving Rs. 336 crores) and gone to the Tribunal Board, that is at Nagpur. He says, Rs. 336 crores are not what he was looking at. Apparently MCGM has cut 40% (for relief & rehabilitation cost for people living there) from the award. The said land parcel was touted to be estimated at Rs. 75000 per sq feet (market value) and he has been awarded Rs. 39000 per sq feet by the MCGM. Let’s see if Ajmera gets market value or No. Heard some “Punya” is hell bent on getting it “done” at Nagpur and has promised Ajmera so.
Couldn’t MCGM at the nascent stage only reject Ajmera’s proposal to buy their land in 2010 or 2011 itself? After all the land was full of encumbrances & was encroached. It was done in whose interest? Why was the Improvement Committee being hell bent on purchase of this land parcel? Ok, heard initially BMC house had decided to acquire it & then later abandoned that decision, why this U-turn? Again in 2019 it was decided NOT to acquire it, who & why was the decision changed & the land was acquired? Has MCGM NOW AT LEAST changed the reservation? DP has been in finalizing stage since 2014 na…
But nevertheless, now that we (MCGM) have the land, hope the MCGM has planned something to do with the people living there. Build a hospital! Any-which ways you have cut Ajmera’s money citing 40% reason. Build that CM’s dream 5000 bedded hospital for Infectious diseases here at Dahisar. Oh yes, you even have a 3-acre plot reserved as “Hospital” at Powai too. EOI specified that hospital land must be situated in one corner of Mumbai to cater MMR region and preferably on eastern & western expressway. Dahisar & Powai just suit this…
Vikrant Hemant Joshi
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