PONDA: A Bandora resident has alleged that the local village panchayat, acting under political pressure, has refused to issue him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to construct a house, for the past 15 years.
Shrikrishna Durbhatkar has now threatened to
stage a dharna in front of the panchayat building in a bid to get answers from the local body.
Durbhatkar said his brother had filed an application for the construction of a house fifteen years ago, but the Bandora panchayat had still not taken a decision on it, thus denying him permission. He said he is the lawful owner of the plot. He said he had obtained approval from the Town and Country Planning Department for the plan of the house, yet, the panchayat body had sidelined his application without giving him proper reasons for why it is not being permitted. “So many outsiders, even migrant blue-collared workers construct houses in Bandora panchayat, why am I not being allowed to build a house for my family?” he questioned. When contacted, Sarpanch Sukanand Kurpaskar denied the allegations of vested interests and said he had called a meeting of all panch members to decide on Durbhatkar’s application, but most of them were absent and so, they could not take the decision. However, he could not give any reasons for not granting permission in the first place.
