Residents demand action against illegal structures

ACCORDING TO CANTONMENTS ACT 2006, ILLEGAL STRUCTURES ARE FIRST SERVED DEMOLITION NOTICES UNDER SECTION 248 AFTER WHICH DEMOLITION IS CARRIED OUT

- Nadeem Inamdar

PUNE: The Pune Cantonment Residents' Association has appealed to the ministry of defence to take action against over 100 unauthorised structures that have allegedly come up across various wards of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) in the past five to seven years.

The association, led by its founder-president and social worker Rajabhau Chavan, claims that these illegal structures have been constructed with impunity, the announcement about the PCB's merger with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) further fuelling the trend.

According to Chavan, the proliferation of these unauthorised structures, both old and new, is altering the character of the cantonment area apart from putting immense pressure on roads, drainage infrastructure and parking spaces.

This in turn has led to overcrowding, an increase in hawkers, and a culture of lawlessness and corruption that is undermining the foundation of lawful governance.