Policy against illegal structures in Thane to come up soon

The Maharashtra Government is planning to chalk out a policy to deal with the issue of illegal constructions in and around Thane.

A meeting, chaired by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was recently held to discuss the issue. The meeting was attended by Thane Municipal Commissioner R A Rajeev and top officials of the Urban Development Department.

"Illegal structures have been built in Thane on the land owned by the government, forest department and MIDC as well as on the privately-owned lands," government sources said. There are 2.24 lakh illegal hutments and 5,000 buildings, in Thane, they said.

"Government has asked Thane Municipal Commissioner to submit a report on these illegal structures in a week's time by taking the help of Global Information System (GIS) platform to map out slum pocket locations and various other aspects," they said.

Based on the review of these encroachments, a policy will be formulated, they added.