Govt must avoid delays in dealing with encroachment

Citizens living near Juhu Koliwada say authorities are turning a blind eye to illegal encroachment in Versova. Hutments are coming up near a mangrove patch and forested area, a report in this paper said. An activist had already alerted local leaders through social media and had tagged Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray too in his tweet.

According to those concerned, there has been no action and even more illegal encroachment has come up despite the complaint.

Whatever be the veracity of these claims, and one may have little reason to doubt them, it should set in motion a process. First, a team must be sent to the site to check if the pictures and complaint hold water. If this is verified through investigation, action must begin at once with reference to clearing away the encroachments.

A government that is the saviour of Aarey and has rightly earned congratulations and plaudits for its efforts in shifting the Metro car shed must now walk its green talk in all spheres, not just in the case of Metro.

We have witnessed earlier that if a great deal of time elapses between the coming up of an illegal structure and its demolition, it becomes firmly entrenched. Then removing it becomes very difficult, if not impossible. They somehow become a part of the landscape, get regularised in some mysterious way and become part of the local politician's vote bank so cannot be dislodged. This is the uncomfortable truth, and Mumbaikars know the pattern and how it operates.

This paper has reported earlier too about citizens noticing illegal hutments in various pockets as people take advantage of the COVID-19 lockdown situation. While authorities are engaged in the COVID-19 fight, to some, the time seems ripe to make a patch of land their own. Crackdown on this to retain the few open spaces and green patches this city has.

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