Latest news with #Vasai-VirarCityMunicipalCorporation
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
ED arrests top official YS Reddy, 3 others in Vasai-Virar illegal construction scam
Hyderabad: The has arrested YS Reddy, deputy director (town planning) of the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) and a native of Hyderabad, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged illegal construction and corruption racket. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On Aug 13, the ED also arrested former VVCMC commissioner and IAS officer Anil Kumar Khanderao Pawar, builder and former Bahujan Vikas Aghadi corporator Sitaram Gupta, and builder Arun Gupta under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED previously conducted searches in Hyderabad in connection with this case. All four accused were produced before the PMLA special court on Aug 14, which granted the ED six days' custody. Earlier operations, according to the agency, yielded the seizure of ₹10.27 crore in cash, diamond-studded jewellery and bullion worth roughly ₹23.25 crore and the freezing of bank balances, shares, mutual funds and fixed deposits totalling ₹13.86 crore, totalling Rs 47 crore. The case arises from multiple FIRs filed by the Mira-Bhayandar police commissionerate against builders, local operatives and others for unauthorised residential and commercial construction on govt and private land within VVCMC limits since 2009. Investigators allege a bribe of roughly ₹150 per square ft was fixed to "turn a blind eye" and refrain from action against rampant unauthorised construction on govt and private land According to the ED, 41 illegal buildings were raised on land reserved for a sewage treatment plant and a dumping ground in the approved development plan of Vasai-Virar. Investigators allege that builders first raised the unauthorised structures and then duped homebuyers by fabricating approval documents to sell the units. The agency said buyers were misled despite the developers' prior knowledge that the structures were unauthorised and liable to be demolished. On July 8, 2024, the Bombay high court ordered demolition of all 41 buildings. A special leave petition filed by families residing in these buildings was later dismissed by the Supreme Court. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now VVCMC completed the demolition on Feb 20, 2025. The ED claims that large-scale illegal construction in the area persisted from 2009 onwards. It alleges that Sitaram Gupta and Arun Gupta illegally alienated about 60 acres of govt and private land using forged agreements and powers of attorney, and sold the parcels to local builders who, between 2013 and 2021, raised 41 buildings with the alleged connivance of civic officials. As per the ED, an organised cartel of VVCMC functionaries, including the commissioner, deputy director (town planning), junior engineers, architects, chartered accountants and liaison agents, operated in concert to facilitate unauthorised projects in exchange for bribes. Commissioner Anil Pawar is alleged to have organised and overseen the cartel. After his appointment, the commission for development permissions was allegedly fixed at ₹20-₹25 per square ft for the commissioner and ₹10 per sq ft for Reddy, calculated on the total area of each project, investigators alleged. During multiple searches, the ED said it seized extensive documentary evidence indicating the accused floated numerous entities in the names of family members, relatives and benamidars to channel and launder illicit proceeds. The ED said its money laundering probe will continue alongside criminal proceedings arising from the original FIRs, and that further action under the PMLA will follow based on the trail of proceeds of crime.
Time of India
04-08-2025
- Time of India
ED records statement of former Vasai-Virar civic chief Anil Pawar
Mumbai: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday recorded statement of Anil Pawar, the former civic chief of Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC), in a money laundering case connected to the illegal construction of buildings. The ED has summoned him again on Tuesday. Earlier the ED had searched 12 premises linked to Pawar and seized Rs 1.33 crore unaccounted cash along with several property documents for examination. The ED had said that Pawar had "created a number of entities in the name of his family members/relatives/benamidars to launder the bribe amount collected". You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Time of India
Illegal building tilts and crashes in Vasai-Virar
Vasai: An illegal building came crashing down on Saturday evening after it developed a tilt on Friday night. No one was injured as 70 residents of the building, Sairaj, were evacuated the previous night. The reason for the building to tilt and crash was said to be renovation work on a ground floor shop, where two pillars were damaged. The police said that as of now no offence had been registered as no one from the society or the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) came to file a complaint. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai When the Sairaj building came down crashing, it damaged the adjacent building 'Kusum'. The VVCMC immediately vacated the building. The VVCMC demolition team arrived and started demolishing Kusum building. Both the buildings were load-bearing buildings. The two buildings and a couple more around these are illegal and were made with below-par construction material, said authorities. The buildings never got any legal approvals from the VVCMC and are said to be around 13 to 14 years old. Shiv Sena district vice-president Anil Chavan said the VVCMC is responsible for the situation as it allowed construction of these illegal buildings. He said the VVCMC should now identify the developers and book them under MPID, seize their properties and distribute money among the victims. The residents have nowhere to go and cannot afford high rentals, said an activist.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
23ft-wide Vasai nullah cut to 6ft, triggers flood fear; restore it, civic body directs landowners
Mumbai: Residents of more than half a dozen villages and hamlets in Vasai fear a flood-like situation this monsoon as a 23ft-wide natural drainage channel has shrunk to a 6ft-wide concrete nullah built by the landowners. This water channel, located at Devdal near an ashramshala, flows into Kaman creek in Vasai East. Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) officials said no construction is allowed in the water channel and the parties concerned have been told to demolish it. Assistant municipal commissioner Nilesh Mhatre said, "We had a meeting with the landowners and directed them to demolish the illegal construction in the nullah and revert it to its original they fail to do so, we will raze it." Following several complaints by the villagers, revenue officials and Naigaon police conducted a panchnama (spot inspection) and their reports have confirmed that the natural drainage channel has been "disturbed" by creating a concrete nullah with a reduced size. When contacted, sub-divisional officer Shekhar Ghadge, however, said the revenue department has no role in the demolition of the nullah. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Ótimas notícias para os cidadãos brasileiros! Leia mais Undo He later avoided answering why the tatathi conducted a panchnama if the nullah was not their jurisdiction. Activist Kamlakar Jadhav said the nullah would overflow every monsoon, and now that its width has been reduced, these 7-8 villages are bound to get flooded. In Kaman, illegal constructions have covered 10- 12 lakh sq ft of land, encroaching upon parts of Chinchoti riverbank, said activist Deepak Rao. "VVCMC issues notices, but doesn't convert them into FIRs, that's why there is no deterrent," he added.
