The Raheja project is in the centre of controversy once again. The mega housing project in Carmona has come back strongly to haunt the new village panchayat body. While the earlier dispensation backed the project, the new body was elected only after members made their opposition to the project as their election plank. Now that the project work has resumed, the panchayat is left with an uphill task of finding ways and means to fight the Raheja project which is already armed with a construction licence. The panchayat is trying to tide over a sea of uncertainty and their election promise is staring them right in their faces.
The panchayat body had no roadmap to take on the Rahejas and the pressure on them is evident now. Waiting for the High Court to dispose of the pending PIL is like biding for time. The hurry is now evident from the fact that panchayat dashed off a stop-work order to Rahejas, despite the TCP Minister Vijai Sardessai issuing instructions to his department to send them a stop-work notice.
The fight against the project stands heavily inclined in favour of the builders even as the panchayat is arguing that the project will cripple the already poor infrastructure of the village. The Rahejas will argue that they are not bound to seek fresh permissions every time there is a change in the panchayat body. While roads, electricity and water are major areas of concern for the village, the panchayat body is seriously looking at the amendment to the building laws which gave relaxation to certain projects having road stretches of up to 75metres. The controversial Raheja project road is 73 metres.
The Panchayat will have a tough job at hand, and challenging the building amendment would be time consuming and unpredictable. Mere allegations of political pressure and money being used to twist the law in favour of the building lobby will not help them to defend their case. The TCP Minister's decision to step in and issue a show cause notice and stop work till the petition of the locals is not heard and decided upon, is a positive step.
The Rahejas may be empowered with a licence to build, but the road still remains the major stumbling block. The concerns of the panchayat which represents the villagers need to be addressed on priority. The TCP should intervene and look into the areas of concern. Villagers see no reason how a massive project of 88 bungalows and 288 flats can be given a go-ahead when the village lacks basic infrastructure such as proper roads, electricity and water. Let there be transparency. All the ground realities need to be looked into before the project is given a green signal.
