Dapchari news | No 'tabelas' in city, says government

Friday, Sep 15, 2006 | Source: Mumbai Mirror | Internet-News Paper | Page 4

No tabelas in city, says government



Asks BMC to ensure a tabela-free Mumbai after the 26/7 flooding last year


RAVIKIRAN DESHMUKH




Even though Mumbai's ubiquitous tabelas are not prepared to move out, the state government has issued a notification prohibiting such activities. The notification did not specify any time limit for tabela owners to move, but government officials say that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will have to ensure a tabela-free Mumbai.
The tabela-shifting move picked up momentum after the metropolis was ravaged by the downpour on July 26, 2005. Recently, the state government issued a notification carrying out an amendment in the Maharashtra Keeping and Movement of Cattle in Urban Areas (control) Act- 1976. Tabelas in Mumbai city and suburban district limits will now be prohibited, said an official of state animal husbandry.
However, although the government has provided huge tracts of land in Dapchari (Dist- Thane for tabelas, no tabela owner has shown any willingness to shift. "The climate at Dapchari is not suitable for tabelas," says Kripashankar Singh, former minister and Congress MLA of Santacruz. Even the water there has some problems, he said. They are, instead, demanding that their land be classified as commercial instead of 'residential' to allow them to conduct business.
According to Singh, there are over 300 tabelas in Mumbai. But BMC authorities say that there are nearly 180 tabelas spread over approximately 225 acres of land. Mangal Mange, chairman of the BMC's health committee says that there is no policy for shifting of tabelas.
In 2001, the MPCB had issued a circular ordering pollution control measures like proper drainage, sewage, water treatment plant, gobar gas plants along with locations for the tabelas. The circular said tabelas should be at least 1 km away from localities, river or lakes and 100 meters from major roads.

Original at : http://mumbaivotes.com/articles/86/

Dapachari News | Spell out plan to shift tabelas in a week, HC tells govt

12 Dec 2008, 0343 hrs IST, Shibu Thomas, TNN
MUMBAI: It’s time for buffaloes to bid adieu to the city. Decks have been cleared to shift the 2,000-odd tabelas spread across the suburbs to Dahanu. The Bombay high court on Thursday asked the Maharashtra government to come up with a plan in a week on how it would go about relocating the tabelas. The shifting of the tabelas__when it eventually happens__may unlock land in the city for development, including the Aarey Milk Colony which is spread over 3,000 acres. There are 300 tabelas in Aarey Colony, in addition to the 1,700 spread around the city, housing 51,000-odd buffaloes. Hearing a petition filed by NGO Janhit Manch, a division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Sharad Bobde, indicated that the tabela owners may have no option but to move out. This followed a report submitted by the court appointed commissioners’ advocates Amit Sale and Shekhar Jagtap after a site visit to Dapchari in Dahanu where 2,677 hectares of land have been earmarked for a dairy project. The report said that infrastructure facilities in the form of a power station, internal roads, green cover, waste disposal facilities, a school and a health centre have been put in place. Further, there was ample water resources, including the Kurje dam and a water tank with five lakh litre capacity. The team also visited Kaman and Devdhal villages in Vasai, which the tabela owners prefer for rehabilitation. The tabela owners do not want to move to Dahanu, claiming that the site is 143 km away from the city. The court commissiones, in their report, revealed that the Vasai sites were unsuitable as the exisiting tabelas there were disposing their waste in natural water resources and polluting the area. According to the petitioners, the tabelas were occupying premium land in the city meant for housing and civic amenities. A damning report by the Maharashtra Control Board in December 2005 revealed that waste generated from the tabelas was causing massive pollution in the surrounding areas. It added that overall the situation was very bad due to dung and washing activity as guidelines of the MPCB were not being followed by the tabela owners.

Original at : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-12/mumbai/27901565_1_dahanu-water-resources-waste-disposal-facilities 

Save Dapchari | Return land to Dapchari farmers, demands local MLA

Thane, May 27 : Saying that the proposed dairy project at Dapchari in Talasari area of the district had failed to take off, local MLA Chintaman Wanga today demanded that the Maharashtra government should return the land, now taken for other projects, to its rightful owners.

Addressing a news conference here, Mr Wanga, who has been closely following the issue, said the government, with big plans to develop the dairy industry, had taken the land from farmers at throw away prices way back in 1963-64, with a view to shift the dairy owners from Mumbai to Dapchari in Talasari. However, as they were reluctant, the state government started its own dairy development project on the land.

Om Prakash Sharma, a prominent social worker and former National Council member of the BJP, who also addressed the news conference, said back then the government had acquired the land at Rs 450 to 500 per acre and was still to rehabilitate the affected farmers.

A total of 6,800 acres of land was acquired for the purpose, of which 1,300 acres of land had gone in the Kurje dam which supplies water to the area.

The Dapchari project had been set up on the lines of the Anand Dairy of Dr Kurian, but it faced problems subsequently.

Under the project, 800 units were given to private milk producers, with the facilities to manage the project.

In 1971-72, the production of milk started at the Dapchari dairy, but it was not up to the mark. In 1974, the milk production was disrupted due to the government servants strike, as a result of which the government did not not purchase the milk from the tribal farmers.

What followed was anarchy and utter confusion resulting in the loss of milk, and not not getting enough fodder for the cattle, leading to the ultimate death of a number of cattle.

After a long time and a lot of trial and error, the government finally sold out the cattle in the project and gave away 65 acres of land to the Rubber Board, 25 acres to the Fisheries department and 52 acres for the check naka of RTO.

Mr Wanga alleged that the government had illegally sold the land to them without following any regulations and the usage of the land is changed.

Several crores of rupees that were spent on the prestigious project have gone down the drain, he said, adding that the land should be returned to the original owners and not not sold to anyone.

The purpose of the land was for dairy development and nothing else he pointed out and added that the if the government bulldozes and goes ahead with its plan, then thousands of farmers in the region will resort to serious agitation to press for their demands.

-UNI

Original at : http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-116263.html