The municipal authority has initiated the process to annul 26 provisional layouts as part of the first phase of actions related to the MHADA housing scandal, subsequent to the arrest of 197 individuals by law enforcement and the commencement of an investigation by a state-designated special investigation team.
Officials from the Nashik Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) town planning department indicated that this action was prompted by a report from the land records survey department, which stated that the provisional layout maps were absent from the official base maps kept by the department.
“We have commenced the procedure, and all 26 provisional layouts will be revoked within the next two to three days. A comprehensive order will be issued thereafter,” stated an NMC official. Recently, the civic body concluded hearings for 169 landowners and developers accused of contravening the mandatory Economically Weaker Section (EWS) housing regulations.
These hearings, carried out by the town planning department, were part of an investigation into alleged violations of the requirement for 20% EWS housing in projects exceeding 4,000 square meters. Last month, the Sarkarwada police filed fraud cases against more than 150 landowners and developers for purportedly circumventing EWS housing stipulations.
The FIR was lodged following a complaint from a land records department official after an inquiry by the additional district collector uncovered breaches of the state housing policies established in 2013 and 2017, which require the allocation of reserved housing units to qualified beneficiaries through MHADA.
