Mumbai:
The naked collusion between Army officers with politicians and bureaucrats loomed 31 storeys high when the Adarsh Society scam was discovered. It suggested a new low in corruption - flats meant for war widows and defence veterans had been cornered at prices unheard of for Mumbai's pricey Colaba area.
Now, it turns out that Adarsh Society was just the glimpse of an entire slide show of land scams put together by Army officers.
A plot measuring 6000 square metres next to a high-security ordinance depot in Malad is currently being prepped for luxury apartments. The developers - Lok Group - are constructing two 15-storey towers. Like the Adarsh Society, these buildings will give residents clear views of defence installations. But in this case, the only way to access the towers is through the ordinance depot. There is no municipal road currently, nor is one planned.
The residential project was cleared on January 23, 2009 by Lieutenant Colonel SD Singh. In a letter to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), he says that a local court has okayed the request for civilians to access the Army road.
On the same day, another letter also written to the BMC by the same officer warns the project is "a grave security risk." In this note, Singh asks the municipal authorities to immediately cancel the permission granted for the construction of the buildings.
The letter objecting to the project was received by the municipality in January 2009. The one that granted permission was received five months later - the Army says the officer's signature was forged.
The municipality, in possession of two vastly different notes from the same man, did not think an investigation was warranted.
An RTI application brought the matter to the attention of the Army, which is now conducting a formal inquiry.
The BMC, in June 2010, ordered all work to be suspended at the construction site.
But when we visited the area today, it was business as usual - construction carrying on in full swing.