Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik announced on Friday that 141 unauthorized buildings across the Vasai-Virar region in Palghar district will be demolished after the Ganpati festival, concluding on September 6, 2025. The decision follows the tragic collapse of Ramabai Apartment in Virar East on August 27, which killed 17 people and injured nine when part of the four-storey structure fell onto an adjacent chawl at 12:05 AM.

Speaking to reporters after visiting affected families, Naik called the incident “deeply unfortunate,” attributing it to years of unchecked illegal constructions. “People are forced into such buildings due to circumstances, but we’re paying the price for past negligence,” he said, pledging full support to Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC) Commissioner Manojkumar Suryavanshi for strict enforcement. The minister held a review meeting with District Collector Indu Rani Jakhar, MP Hemant Savara, and MLAs Sneha Pandit-Dubey and Rajan Naik to plan preventive measures.

Naik committed to discussing rehabilitation for displaced residents with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde post-cabinet meeting. This follows earlier actions, such as the demolition of 41 illegal buildings in Nalasopara’s Agarwal Nagar between January 23 and February 13, 2025, affecting over 1,000 families. Those structures, built on land reserved for a dumping ground and STP plant, were razed under Bombay High Court orders.

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The VVMC has intensified efforts against illegal constructions, with 65 buildings demolished in Vasant Nagri in 2011 and ongoing probes into 55 others since 2023 for forged documents. The recent collapse has spotlighted systemic issues, with activists like Yash Marwah noting a real estate boom in Vasai-Virar since the 2000s, driven by Mumbai’s housing crisis, often at the cost of agrarian land and mangroves.

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