Charge-sheet against 2 landlords, others for Rs 73 crore groundwater theft in Mumbai

MUMBAI: In perhaps the first police case of groundwater theft of more than Rs 73 crore that happened over 11 years, Azad Maidan police on Tuesday filed a 488-page charge-sheet against five persons, including two landlords of a building where two wells were dug illegally in Kalbadevi. They allegedly stole water in six lakh tankers and sold water in each tanker for Rs 1,200.
Additional commissioner (south) Nishith Mishra said, “Illegal digging of wells was carried out for extraction of water.An electric connection taken for some other purpose was used for the offence. There was illegal transportation of water for commercial purposes.” Earlier cases involved theft of municipal water.
A senior official said they caused a loss to the revenue department by not paying taxes. The FIR mentioned six accused, including owners of Pandya Mansion in Bomanji Master Lane, landlord Tripuraprasad Pandya and company directors Prakash Pandya and Manoj Pandya.
They extracted water with the help of tanker owners and operators Arun Mishra, Shravan Mishra and Dhiraj Mishra. Tripuraprasad Pandya passed away a year back. Five other accused have been charge-sheeted.
Activist Sureshkumar Dhoka had submitted evidence to police, which he obtained through RTI. They accused were arrested under sections 379 (punishment for theft) and 34 (criminal act by several persons with common intention). They were later granted bail.
An officer earlier said they sold the groundwater between 2006-17. LT Marg police had earlier filed a charge-sheet against Pandya Mansion owners for forging building plans to include two wells, digging them and exploiting the water for commercial gain. National Green Tribunal had ordered closure of the wells.Mateen Hafeez and Rebecca Samervel
BMC terminates lease
BMC terminated the 999-year lease of Pandya Mansion on Bomanji Master Lane, near Metro Cinema in South Mumbai, for alleged unauthorized construction and illegal selling of groundwater from two wells on its premises.
Officials said the owner had been issued many notices in 12 years for unauthorized constructions. Four months back, BMC’s improvement committee passed a resolution to cancel the lease but the process got delayed due to lockdown, said an official. The lessee can approach court against the decision.