CIDCO land scams are rampant but so far, no concrete actions are taken against authorities because these scams are done under political patronage. When Devendra Fadnavis was Maharashtra’s chief minister there was the biggest ‘land scam’ in Navi Mumbai. CIDCO land, which was given to project-affected people for agricultural purposes, got denotified for development purposes by the revenue department. The formerly reserved 24 acres were allotted to eight farmers and was bought by private developers for peanuts. However, due to the denotification, the land’s rates went up, to the sole advantage of the developer. This episode hit the headlines and Congress in opposition raked up this matter but Devendra Fadnavis just cornered them in counter allegations but never answered to the accusations made against him.
City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has registered a cheating case against 11 people, including a developer and five of its employees, for causing a loss of Rs 17 crores by illegally selling a plot originally used for building houses for CIDCO employees. A housing society acquired the plot at Nerul in 2002. Sneha Pushpa Housing society was formed in 1993 and was supposed to house only CIDCO employees. In 2002, the plot was given to the housing society on a 60-year rent agreement against a deposit of ₹73.79 lakh, as per the complaint of a CIDCO officer. The then chairman of the 30-member society inducted a developer, Haresh Nagji…
