The city has been hit by another land-related scandal. Vested interests have gobbled up 15.5 acres of land (in Pardi -- East Nagpur) originally reserved for usage as crematorium in the Development Plan. And this detail surfaced in a Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s review meeting chaired by none other than Mayor Mrs. Neeta Thakre. The meeting was told that only 1.5 acres of the land now remain -- to be used as crematorium. This information was shared with the members by officials at the meeting.

 

When the review meeting was informed of the usurpation of the reserved land, the members went into a stunned silence -- obviously not knowing how to respond. Rumours are doing the rounds that the 15.5 acres of the reserved land have been usurped by some vested interests in collusion with a builder. This development raises quite a few serious questions -- which the Nagpurians have the right to ask. They also have the right to insist upon a detailed investigation into the scandalous development and ask for punishment to the guilty. But first question first: When the Nagpur Municipal Corporation was under suspension for a few years, the entire management of the city was in the hands of the bureaucracy.

 

Obviously, then, some official/officials must have been involved in the scandal -- in collusion with vested interests in the realty sector, possibly with some sly high-level political patronage. This unholy alliance must have indulged in machinations to change the title of the land or its usage. Members of that sly alliance must have hoped too keep their own action under wraps since there were no elected corporators. Possibly, these perpetrators of the scandal must not have even imagined that their sly actions would get exposed so soon. Now Mayor Madam has ordered a detailed enquiry into the issue.

 

A lot of filth may get thrown up once the probe starts going deeper. So, the next question is: Will there be any corrective and punitive action to correct the wrong ? Will the NMC bigwigs have the right kind of courage to take a strict, no-nonsense action ? Can Nagpurians expect such a response from the NMC authorities ? In fact, the city may be harbouring many such scandals. For, the city’s local leadership is often known to have formed undesirable alliances to gobble up public utility lands of literally thousands of acres across the city. On several occasions, the media tried to bring out the scandalous machinations -- only to no avail. The crematorium land scandal also appears to be one such -- if the details now available in public domain are true. In that case, Nagpur may claim to have one more similar scams having been done before -- or are in the making in the next some years. The crematorium land scandal, too, appears to be one such. The loosefooter suspects that the Pardi crematorium land scam cannot take place unless and until it has been blessed by some powerful entity. It is time to bring all the details to light. It is also time, therefore, to punish the guilty (no matter who is involved). n