BJP to protest three-fold hike in Gunthewari charges

Nagpur: All BJP MLAs and corporators from the city will stage a protest against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for steeply hiking Gunthewari charges. The protests would commence with a big morcha at Yeshwant Stadium on November 15, which will be headed by leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis.
On November 18, the BJP leaders would meet NIT chairman Manoj Suryawanshi and submit a representation to him requesting chief minister Uddhav Thackeray-led government to provide some solace to about five lakh residents from the city. If the government fails to act, the saffron party will stage a big agitation in front of NIT office on November 22.
“The Urban Development Department (UDD) had suddenly hiked Gunthewari charges from Rs56/sqft to Rs168, which is a three-fold jump. It floated a government resolution (GR) on October 18 without consulting with the public representatives or the department officials concerned. About five lakh residents would be adversely affected by this development, which is being implemented amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” MLA Krishna Khopde told the media.
Flanked by other leaders, including MLA Vikas Kumbhare, ruling party leader in NMC Avinash Thakre, former MLA Milind Mane, BJP general secretary Sanjay Bangale, NMC legal committee chairman Dharampal Meshram, and BJP spokesperson Chandan Goswami, the MLA said the government’s decision shocked all these five lakh common households as many of them had either lost jobs due to the pandemic or suffered losses in their businesses.
“When the Gunthewari Act was implemented in 2001, the then Congress-NCP government had fixed Rs48/sqft charges for the residents. However, the decision was strongly opposed by then senior corporator Prabhakar Datke, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Fadnavis, both outside and inside the assembly. Due to them, the then government was forced to reduce the charges to Rs16/ sq ft,” he said.
Khopde said the Congress-NCP government again hiked the charges to Rs56/ sq ft over the years. “Under Fadnavis, the layouts coming under Gunthewari were developed by the government by providing basic facilities like cement roads, drainage, and water pipelines. Now for what reason have they hiked these charges? We will intensify the protest but in a democratic way and knock on the high court’s doors as a last resort,” he said.
Expressing surprise over the silence of MVA ministers and leaders in the city, the MLA said “government’s parrots” like Congress state president Nana Patole and guardian minister (Nitin Raut) should have come forward to raise their voices against such big injustice to the common citizens.