General body nod for civic police stns plan

Thane: The general body of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has given its nod to the state government’s plan of setting up civic police stations to deal with illegal constructions. The consent has been given in consultation with the police department.
Kalyan-Dombivli and Navi Mumbai are the two other corporations that have also given their nod to set up similar police stations.
The TMC recently sent the proposal to the government for its approval. Under the proposal, the general body has made an allocation of Rs 3.5 crore in its annual budget for all the additional posts and land required for the civic police stations. It includes details of the likely salary structure, expenses to be incurred for the building and the pattern of hierarchy in which the civic squad would be divided.
As many as 78 posts have been sanctioned for the special squad. According to an estimate, the TMC deals with over 20,000 encroachment cases and over 2,000 illegal construction cases every year. The officials are forced to depend on the Thane police. Once the government gives a go ahead for this proposal, the police station would be located in the civic headquarters with a chowky.
This move follows the government’s direction to set up a civic police force to deal with unauthorized constructions. A division bench of Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud and Justice Shirish Gupte had passed this order in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) by Harit Vasai Sanrakshan Samiti regarding illegal constructions in the Vasai-Virar belt on October 25, 2013.
The PIL’s scope was extended to cover the entire Thane district after more petitions were filed on the inaction of civic authorities.
In 2009, the court constituted a high power committee headed by chief secretary to come up with concrete solutions.
The court had warned the corporations that in the event of a corporation or council not submitting its proposal for independent police stations with staff, the government will issue appropriate directions to them under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act to constitute them.