Mumbai: Maharashtra Government on Thursday
announced exclusion of 29 of the total 35 villages from the
Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation in adjoining Thane district.
Two new villages will be added to the civic body,
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told the Legislative
Assembly.
He said the excluded villages were far off from the
city limits and were important from agriculture and
environment points of view.
The announcement came after Independent MLA Vivek
Pandit led a four-day march from Vasai to Vidhan Bhavan in
south Mumbai, demanding that the government honour the
resolution of the gram sabhas, who had demanded exclusion of
villages from the corporation limits.
Kshitij Thakur and Vilas Tare, legislators of Bahujan
Vikas Agadhi from Vasai, criticised the Government's decision,
saying it had acted under pressure from Pandit and the
Opposition.
"Vasai, with over 14 lakh population, is the fastest-
growing taluka in the country. It is centrally located between
Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane. Urbanisation is spreading
rapidly and only a municipal corporation can provide basic
needs of the local people," they said.
They appealed to the government to reconsider the
decision.
PTI
First Published: Friday, April 22, 2011, 00:24