ZP refuses land for Bhiwapur court

Bandu Ghodmare, a marginal farmer from Pandharwani had to travel almost 40 km from his village to attend a court case in Umrer town at least twice a month. There are hundreds like him as there is no court in Bhiwapur tehsil and they have to travel to Umrer to attend cases.

These villagers became hopeful as the state government had sanctioned Rs 1.50 crore for construction of a court building in Bhiwapur. But their joy was short-lived, as Zilla Parishad has now refused to provide a two acre land identified for the construction of court building. ZP had passed a resolution in general body meeting a few months ago striking down the proposal.

At present, public representatives, including MLA from Umrer Sudhir Parwe, are at loggerheads with Zilla Parishad members, as the latter continue to oppose giving land for court building. Parwe, who is a resident of Bhiwapur, met the ZP officials and elected public representatives to resolve the issue. On Tuesday, the MLA approached the ZP vice-president Nitin Rathi for the land. According to him, setting up of the court would help nearby villagers.

He wondered why the ZP is refusing the land for public cause. According to him, ZP has around 3.60 hectares land in Bhiwapur and the government needs just 2.40 hectare for the court building. He also blamed ZP for failing to keep land encroachment free. At present, it has many illegal constructions on it, alleged Parwe. He said blaming government for not doing enough for this town won't be a very wise thing, as this time it is the public representatives of this area are coming in way of development.

However, a senior ZP official, who did not wished to be named, clarified that under section 129 of Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti Act 1961, if the state government wanted it could acquire the land. ZP vice-president Nitin Rathi said that the ZP had taken firm decision not to give any land for the court building. He pointed out that state government had sufficient land in Bhiwapur and asked why did it need ZP land.

President of Nationalist Consumer Protection Committee Dr Vilas Murti alleged that due to dirty ZP politics, villagers would suffer. "The area is suffering as political leaders are putting in more efforts in putting hurdles in the developmental works, rather than concentrating their efforts on allowing land to construct the court."

Minister of state for finance and energy Rajendra Mulak who once represented Umrer as MLA hoped that the issue would be solved amicably. He said that if the ZP had some other project coming on the land they could refuse to part with it, otherwise they should hand it over for larger good.