‘Many Adarsh-like encroachments in Mumbai’

MUMBAI - Many prime properties owned by the defence forces in Colaba and other places here have been encroached upon for several years, a senior official who exposed the Adarsh scam said here Wednesday.

Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, gave the example of Geetanagar slums here, saying the land belonged to the Indian Navy.

We have already requested the Maharashtra government to rehabilitate and relocate the slumdwellers under its Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes. The state government has agreed to do so by 2011, Bhasin said, speaking to mediapersons ahead of the Navy Day celebrations.

Bhasin was the first to expose the Adarsh scam when wrote a letter to the Delhi-based Army Headquarters and the defence ministry seeking action against the 31-story building for posing a threat to military installations in Mumbai.

We also have some land in Kalyan which we are not able to utilize. It is being used for cultivation purposes by the local villagers. Initially, it belonged to the Indian Air Force and later was transferred to the state government and then to the Indian Navy, Bhasin said.

He also named Ganeshmurti Nagar, which he said encroached on land owned by the Indian Army, apart from a vast stretch of land near the INS Shikra, Western Naval Command’s helibase in Colaba, from where US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle had boarded a chopper Nov 7.

He said the defence forces had started checking documents and verifying all records pertaining to these lands and would initiate steps to reclaim them.