Aerial view of the Mumbai coastline
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At least a 102 maps were forged to legalise the development of properties on the Mumbai coastline, a probe as found.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up on the Bombay High Court's order and has unearthed a land scam which involves large-scale property record tampering to turn the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and No Development Zone (NDZ) lands into developable plots, The Times of India reported.
Four people, including two former government employees, were arrested last week in this scam. Overall, 18 government staff from BMC and the land records section have been summoned to face questioning.
As per the publication, this scam allegedly involves estate agents, government staff, and contractors, all of whom altered land records in Madh Island, Marve, Versova, among other ecologically sensitive areas.
This was first flagged by a Malad farmer, who owns ancestral land. He had filed an FIR at the Goregaon station in 2021 against illegal constructions on his plot as well as adjoining lands. The farmer also found that government records had been forged to classify CRZ and NDZ plots as developable. Authorities, including the BMC and Goregaon police, at the time, failed to make much headway, the publication reported.
Another FIR was lodged in the same year by deputy superintendent of land records, Nitin Salunkhe. He alleged that maps and documents were falsified between 2012 and 2020 to regularise illegal constructions in eco-sensitive areas. The matter found traction in 2022 in the Maharashtra assembly where an inquiry committee was set up by the government. These were presented in the High Court when the farmer filed a plea saying there was inaction despite the government's findings.
The SIT, which was set up on the court order, has so far made four arrests. As per the team, the four accused, working hand-in-glove with government staff, manipulated the maps and records by adding fake City Survey numbers, non-existent constructions, and also changed boundaries.
These fake maps were distributed under the pretext of filing RTI requests. As per TOI, BMC officials allegedly approved these constructions and sales based on frauduluent documents, which has led to major ecological damage as well as revenue loss for the state government.
The probe found that of 884 permanent enumerations maps which date back to 1955-1984, in the deputy superintendent's office, 102 were fake, and showed constructions that didn't exist before 1964.
The Maharashtra government has now ordered the principal secretary of Urban Development and Director of Land Records, in Pune, to take action against those behind manipulating public records.
The SIT team, meanwhile, has seized all the 884 original maps and digital copies from will focus on verifying the authenticity of these documents, while trying to identify the additional suspects.