Mumbai: In the corridors of power, a quiet but increasingly sharp turf war has begun. It was triggered by a recent state cabinet decision to transfer 33,954.61 hectares (roughly 84,000 acres) of land parcels
in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) from the custody of the Revenue Department, headed by BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), chaired by Shiv Sena strongman and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The fallout became evident on Thursday when Bawankule directed his department officials to identify and reclaim government plots that have remained undeveloped for years or where allotment conditions have been violated.
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The directive, concerning land allotted to bodies such as the City and Industrial Development Corporation and the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), is significant as both fall under the Urban Development Department (UDD), headed by Shinde.
Bawankule has asked the Konkan Divisional Commissioner to compile detailed information on such land allotments, including the number of plots allotted, the beneficiaries, and whether the legal conditions attached to these allotments have been breached. The move is noteworthy, particularly since neither CIDCO nor NAINA has been directly engaged at this stage.
Sources in the corridors of power suggest that the cabinet’s decision to transfer MMR land parcels to the MMRDA has effectively rendered the Revenue Department—a traditional custodian of government land—largely landless in the districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad.
According to the cabinet decision, of the total 33,954.613 hectares, 12,817.6092 hectares are from Raigad district, 11,177.1768 hectares from Palghar, and 9,959.827 hectares from Thane.
It is also learnt that the Revenue Department was initially kept in the dark about the move. The agenda item, introduced before the state cabinet in March, was briefly deferred to allow the Revenue Minister to examine the details.
However, within the next 15 days, the decision was finalised, making the MMRDA the largest state entity to control such vast and prime land parcels.
What now appears to be a calibrated counter-move has followed. The Revenue Minister has turned his focus to unused land parcels under departments linked to Shinde.
A special committee is being constituted to examine the issue. According to a press release from Bawankule’s office, the committee will probe alleged violations and submit its report within a month, along with its recommendations.
Bawankule has also asked officials to review past allotments of government land to institutions and suggest measures to reclaim unused parcels from various departments, signalling that the battle over land—and control—within the MMR is far from over.
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