The Union Environment Ministry on Friday issued a show cause notice to the controversial Lavasa Corporation Limited (LCL), raising serious questions over a number of its constructions that it deems as ‘violations.' Lavasa, India's first hill city, is the ambitious project undertaken by Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) about 45 km from Pune. To be built over 25,000 acres, the luxurious city now faces a serious problem with the Ministry notice. The company...

The Bombay High Court at Goa on Friday quashed the allotment of land on lease by the State-owned industry promotion body to the promoters of seven Special Economic Zone(SEZ) projects upholding the State Government's power to scrap the SEZ policy and the projects in public interest. A Bench comprising Justice A. S. Oka and Justice F. M. Reis, inter alia ruled that that there was lack of fairness and transparency in...

In a major setback to the encroachers, the district administration has begun reclaiming land worth hundreds of crores of rupees from different areas of the city. Buildings constructed illegally on agricultural land along National Highway 8 were razed on Monday, while notices were issued to other encroachers. According to district administration, hundreds of acres of land given for agricultural purpose was misused by the owners and sold off illegally. The...

Several property dealers, unknown government officials booked  ‘Some property dealers and colonisers allegedly acquired agricultural land' ‘Conversation of agricultural land for residential purposes is not allowed' Several property dealers and unknown government officials have been booked by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi Government for allegedly carving out residential plots on agricultural land. The case pertains to illegal conversion of land in and around Narela in Outer Delhi, but similar violations across the...

Thirty-three-year-old Mohit Sharma from Delhi took the RTI route to put an end to the civic mess in his colony, caused by rampant unauthorised construction. But now he claims a threat to his life. And his finger is pointed at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). "I sought this information regarding Illegal Constructions in Shahdara. As a consequence, I started receiving threat calls. But on March 12, three MCD employees...