Activist seeks probe into what is behind tall tin sheets and walls around Mahabaleshwar properties

Mahabaleshwar is considered an extremely eco-sensitive area, and rules framed to protect its natural wealth, biodiversity and environment must therefore be enforced strictly. A social and environmental activist has now raised questions on this.

Activist Suryakant (Balaso) Panchal alleges that tin sheets and compound walls, 10 to 15 feet high, have been put up around some private and commercial properties within the limits of the Mahabaleshwar Municipal Council. The sheets and walls are opaque. Panchal has asked the Collector and the municipal council administration to immediately investigate what work is actually going on behind them.

In his representation, Panchal said that, given the environmental sensitivity of the Mahabaleshwar area, the rules on fencing around properties should also be examined. According to him, at some places the tall tin sheets and walls fully cover the interior, so information about construction or development work under way there is not easily available.

Panchal claims that behind these sheets and compounds, the possibility cannot be ruled out of activities at night such as felling trees, damaging the roots of old trees, cutting hill slopes, excavating soil, altering natural water sources or building beyond what is approved. He has therefore demanded an on-site inspection of all such properties, along with a paper check of their building permissions, approved plans, the permitted extent of construction and what has actually been built.

The representation also asks the municipal council's construction department to survey all properties with tall tin sheets or excessively high compounds, and to test the legal validity of the development work under way in them. Panchal has demanded immediate legal action against those responsible if violations are found.

It also says that opaque tin-sheet fencing put up in violation of rules should be removed, and that the administration should act to replace it, as needed, with transparent mesh fencing.

Panchal has also said the municipal council administration should take the matter seriously and send notices to the property holders concerned. If violations of environmental or construction rules are found, he has demanded action under the Environment Protection Act and the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act.