'Weather shades' in Thane razed

THANE: The civic demolition squad on Saturday razed the illegal extensions of 130 shops in Vrindavan Colony made under the guise of weather shades.
When they had attempted this a fortnight ago, the demolition squad had to beat a hasty retreat. In fact, assistant municipal commissioner Manish Joshi, who was leading the squad, was hammered by a mob led by Sena MLC and former mayor Anant Tare.Tension prevailed in the area as the bulldozers razed the extensions.
Sena leaders gathered at the site and tried to convince civic chief K.P. Bakshi to halt the action but in vain. Terming the demolition “high-handed and incorrect’’, Mr Tare said all the shops had been paying tax for using the weather shades for the last 15 years.