Vadodara civic body tears down encroachments at Agora mall

The Agora Mall is simply a portion of the VMC’s nationalist backstage concern task to rehabilitate the slum dwellers of Sanjaynagar and has been successful quality for the alleged encroachments since 2015 with national groups having moved the Gujarat High Court successful the matter.

On Friday, six hydraulic bulldozers of the VMC razed the three-storeyed nine house, dispersed implicit an country of 3000 quadrate feet.

Representatives of Agora Mall said that they had managed to region arsenic overmuch furnishings and belongings from the premises arsenic they could, pursuing the announcement served connected Tuesday. The operation besides included bureau spaces that had been sold and leased out.

Advocate Shailesh Amin of the Vishwamitri Bachao Samiti (VBS), who has been warring against the alleged encroachment by Agora Mall and has besides moved a PIL successful the precocious tribunal successful his idiosyncratic capacity, connected Friday, said that successful bid to reconstruct the Vishwamitri stream to its earthy form, it is indispensable to region the embankment wall.

“Not conscionable the nine location but the debris filled successful the stream to conception the embankment wall, and the partition itself request to beryllium demolished… We person been warring for this since 2015 erstwhile the encroachment was being done but the VMC turned a unsighted oculus to the encroachment backmost past and did not wage heed to our protests,” helium said. “The demolition carried retired present is thing but a effect of VMC’s ain inaction…” helium added.

Agora Mall connected Mangal Pandey Road successful Sama

Amin said that not conscionable Agora Mall but the authorities authorities should besides guarantee that each the portion transfers of lands successful Restricted Zone to residential portion should beryllium withdrawn and the stream plains opened up to rejuvenate the river. Meanwhile, Congress person Ami Ravat demanded an enquiry into the behaviour of the past VMC officials, including apprehension of erstwhile municipal commissioner HS Patel.

In a memorandum to the territory collector Friday, Ravat said, “An enquiry was acceptable up connected this task by past Vadodara territory collector Avantika Singh and subsequently VMC was instructed to region these encroachments but till day nary enactment has been taken connected the same. We request contiguous removal of embankment constructed successful Vishwamitri river, successful presumption of flooding and h2o logging successful aboriginal arsenic good arsenic ineligible enactment against the developer Manav Infrastructure, and the authorities officers who person failed to implicit compliance of the Environment Protection Act 1986 arsenic good arsenic past municipal commissioner HS Patel, builder and further metropolis technologist FJ Charpot for connivance successful corruption.”

The VMC’s anti-encroachment section besides conducted demolitions successful Nizampura, located connected the Bhukhi canal. The VMC had conducted a drone and carnal survey crossed the 23 kilometer stream people of Vishwamitri, handing retired notices to 11 “entities” to voluntarily region encroachments by Thursday.

A VMC authoritative said, “We person begun the enactment of removing the encroachments identified. Over the adjacent mates of days, each the 11 sites wherever encroachments person been recovered volition beryllium inspected and immoderate portion has not been pulled down already, volition beryllium removed.”

Reacting to the development, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Shaktisinh Gohil said, “It is excessively small excessively late… If the VMC knew that this was an encroachment that was successful the mode of the travel of the Vishwamitri, past wherefore was it not breached down until now?”

“ What astir the illegality of the full structure? Why was the three-storey operation allowed to beryllium constructed? If it was done earlier, Vadodara would not person suffered the damage,” said Gohil.