MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's building proposal department engineer, whose permission to a builder to build on "mangrove land" in Oshiwara-Lokhandwala enraged local residents and kicked up a controversy, has left for the US on leave on Monday night, civic sources said.

TOI had reported (April 22) that P G Deshpande "issued" a commencement certificate (CC) on April 6 to the developer to construct on a 7,741 square metre plot adjacent to the Oshiwara creek. It was issued despite a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Oshiwara Lokhandwala Citizens' Association (OLCA) and the plot falling under the coastal regulatory zone (CRZ-1), activists said.

Deputy chief engineer Vinod Chitore, who is Deshpande's boss, confirmed he was on leave but refused to say if he was en route to the US. "We have all necessary clearances from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZ-MA). The tehsildar had made some observations on complaints filed by residents and found no substance in them. There are no mangroves on the plot of land. We are aware there is a PIL filed in court," Chitore said.

Deshpande's cell phone was switched off.

However, the affidavit filed by Rupali Sunil B, tehsildar, Andheri, Mumbai suburban, on April 12, 2012, in reply to a criminal writ petition filed by the developer states: "In December 2011, when Nandkumar Balsaras along with talathi, Oshiwara visited the plot, two to three mangroves were noted and accordingly the plot falls within the 50-metre buffer zone (mangrove land and creek) and as there is a notification pertaining to the order passed by this court dated October 6, 2005, a complaint was filed with the Oshiwara police station."

A copy of the affidavit is with TOI.

Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte, when asked about the tehsildar's affidavit, said, "The tehsildar has some explaining to do here about the contradictions and the discrepancy in the affidavit filed in court and the document submitted to us. On September 6, 2012, the tehsildar conducted a panchnama and said there are two to three mangroves on a nullah and no mangroves on the property. After the panchanama, the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) gave clearances and we issued a CC. We are aware of the PIL and we are required to file some affidavits in court. The CC was issued based on all clearances."

It is learned that Sunil, whose cell phone was switched off, has been transferred from the post.

Alarmed by the CC issued by BMC, OLCA had served a legal notice to Kunte and Deshpande on April 16. OLCA advocate Gayatri Singh said, "On first note, there is no clearance from the MoEF for this plot. MCZMA has relied on letters of BMC, which relies on remarks of the urban development department, which states that the proposed construction on the plot is not within 50 metres of the buffer zone. MCZMA has to independently verify if it falls in CRZ-1 based on scientific data and information, which includes satellite mapping, based on any agency authorized by MoEF. This hasn't been done.

The maps we furnished CRZ map, MCZMA map and wetland atlas prepared under authorization of the MoEF conclusively show that the plot falls under CRZ-1. We are challenging the granting of CC, which is contrary to classification of the plot as CRZ-1."

