Vasai: The National Greens Tribunal (NGT) Pune has directed the Palghar collector to file his reply within four weeks after a Vasai-based petitioner filed a PIL seeking NGT’s intervention to stop illegal dumping of construction debris and reclamation of water bodies in Vasai taluka. The petitioner approached the NGT after his complaints to the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) did not result in “any positive action”. The petitioner has also made other govt bodies such as the VVCMC, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the Maharashtra environment department along with the Palghar collector a party in this PIL.
Deepak Rao, the petitioner, alleged that even after repeated follow-ups the VVCMC officers don’t act on several complaints. “We are happy that on the first day of the hearing itself, the honourable courts have directed the Palghar collector to file an affidavit, which will make sure that there is some check on this rampant illegal construction. Vasai taluka is seen as a hub of illegal construction and encroachment, he said. Rao said that such activities are causing environmental degradation which is irreversible, as the aquatic habitat and natural hydrological cycles are destroyed permanently.
According to Rao’s PIL,there is a natural waterbody (pond) located in Chinchoti village which has been targeted by the land mafia who are dumping construction debris and mud to cover it. Chances are there that later a commercial hub or chawls might come up there, Now, the courts have asked the Palghar collector to confirm if there is any such permission issued on that location for these activities. The next hearing is scheduled in the second week of Feb. TOtried to speak to the collector, but the the calls and text messages went unanswered.
