ENDANGERING LIFE, HARMING INFRASTRUCTURE AND TOWN PLANNING, ILLEGAL STRUCTURES ARE A LONG TERM AND SHORTTERM NIGHTMARE

Real Estate is a lucrative business and this makes it easy game for charlatans and cheats to make quick bucks. Despite laws and rules, the illegal construction industry has flourished in the country. The following news item is only a tip of the iceberg.

“With more than 20,000 illegal structures in the city, the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and the police department have claimed to crackdown on them in three months. “We have been trying to crackdown on illegal structures in KDMC limits with the help of police for a long time. However, illegal constructions are still flourishing. In order to make it more effective, we have formed an action plan that will be imposed in the coming days. We have a target to clear most illegal constructions in three months,” said Vijay Suryavanshi, commissioner, KDMC.

KDMC has asked the MSEDCL to not provide electricity to such illegal structures and disconnect the existing connections while water supply will also be disconnected. The civic body would also charge the developer for demolition of any illegal construction raised by him, added Suryavanshi.”

Building and construction is not just an industry. It has to do with planning and creating cities and towns and have long term repercussions. Water, electricity and essential needs that go with habitation are necessarily attached to any construction or building. Illegal constructions endanger even legal and legit construction in the immediate vicinity. If detected late, the destruction of an illegal structure does not remain the destruction of that alone, but can endanger an entire township or at least, scores of structures built around it.

All the efforts of genuine, concerned and well-meaning professionals and town planners can be demolished by one cheating builder or crooked architect or politician who allows or organizes the construction of an illegal structure. Now cast an eye on this news report,

 "It is rather surprising that an illegal building in Nerul, sector 16A, has already completed three floors of construction, while another building at Darave in Belapur ward has risen by four storeys, although both these constructions were earlier demolished by the civic body. The fast pace in which the Nerul building is coming up, it appears that they will start selling the readymade flats in the new year. NMMC must inquire into this," said RTI activist Anarjit Chauhan".

The audacity and brazenness of these fraudsters is baffling indeed. If this can happen in urban Mumbai, Navi Mumbai just imagine what must be happening in smaller towns and remote areas. Most illegal construction, being money making gimmicks are also not particular about using the best of material for sure. Therefore, each such building is a death trap and a disaster waiting to happen for people who inhabit it.

So when you book that new home with your hard earned money to live in with your family, you may be actually booking a grave for them instead. Think about it.