Mumbai:
Politicians in Maharashtra have been going to considerable lengths to distance themselves from the controversial Adarsh Tower - a building that seems poised to cost the Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan his job (three flats in the building were allotted to his relatives). (
Read: How Maharashtra government cashed in on Kargil)
But the 31-storey building in Colaba was buffed into a sweetheart deal by - and for - several leaders, bureaucrats and senior army officers. They cornered flats at throwaway prices - flats that were intended for war widows and veterans. (
Read: Don't ask questions, Army was told)
Former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said last week that he played a peripheral role in the clearances given to the building. Now, documents accessed by NDTV prove the opposite. In 2005, Deshmukh as Chief Minister exercised his discretionary powers to sanction major expansion plans for the building. This allowed an additional 32 flats for Adarsh Society. (
Read: Vilasrao vs Chavan on Adarsh scam)
To do this, he effectively took land that was reserved for a government bus depot next to Adarsh Society. The government's the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport or BEST, that runs public buses, originally protested this decision but later gave in.
Since the Adarsh scam broke earlier this month, records of the 104 flat-owners have shown how many of them misused their offices to push through the high-rise, violating, among others, environmental laws. The building is located near the coast and therefore needs detailed clearances from the Union Environment Ministry. The permission was never granted, but that didn't seem to matter. (
Read: No green clearance?)
Politicians and bureaucrats who had the power to veto the building saw it through - and boldly accepted flats in their own names. Three flats are alleged to have been given to Deshmukh's associates. Current Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has offered to resign after he was forced to acknowledge that three of his relatives had been given Adarsh flats (they have returned them last week). Chavan's role is being investigated by his party, the Congress. (
Read: Ashok Chavan stays, for now)
Also complicit - Army officers who had jurisdiction over the area because it hosts Naval and Army installations. A formal Army inquiry seeks to determine whether they exchange no-objection certificates for flats.
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