MLA blinks in tussle with Thane civic chief
The first round of the bitter confrontation between Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik and municipal commissioner R A Rajeev has gone to the bureaucrat: An illegal gymnasium in the refuge area of the floor on which the politician lives was demolished after the municipal corporation served a notice. But the flamboyant MLA has now levelled fresh charges against Rajeev, alleging that he unlawfully diverted water from an adjoining river to his 12-acre farmhouse at Badlapur. The municipal commissioner had sought the removal of the treadmills, indoor cycling machines and weights occupying on the eighth floor of Vasant Lawns complex, adjoining Sarnaik's five-BHK apartment, with immediate effect. Civic officials said Rajeev, who had withheld the Occupation Certificate of the building citing illegal use of refuge space, finally granted the OC to the builders after the area was cleared of the exercise machines, wooden floor panels and glass walls last Wednesday. They said the OC was granted after verifying photos of the area, post the clearing. Sarnaik denied the civic officials' version and said he had not set up any private gym in the refuge area. "I have nothing to do with any gym equipment or the OC as it is between the builder and TMC,'' he told TOI. Sarnaik and Rajeev have been at loggerheads for over a year now and all efforts by top Sena leaders have failed to bring peace between them. The Sena MLA, who is miffed with the IAS officer for registering an offence of water theft against a construction firm owned by him, has accused Rajeev of illegally drawing water from a river at Badlapur for his farmhouse. "I have petitioned the Thane collector to verify if the 12-acre farm plot at Sagaon in Badlapur, which has the name of R A Rajeev on the 7/12 land extract, has been given permissions to draw water from the river. If not, then an offence should be registered against the municipal commissioner,'' Sarnaik said. Rajeev termed Sarnaik's accusations are baseless, adding that he has been paying water charges to the irrigation department from 2011 and the district authorities are aware of this.
