A week after the Turbhe department took action to demolish an illegal construction on the planned CIDCO road near the Sai Baba Temple in Kopri village, the construction has resumed. This marks the fifth instance of illegal construction in the area, despite multiple interventions by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and CIDCO.

The action against the encroachment was first taken on December 24, 2024. However, just six days after the demolition, the construction resumed, raising questions about the effectiveness of municipal enforcement and whether these land mafias have lost their fear of the authorities.

This is not the first time that action has been taken against the illegal construction in this area. Since May 2017, the Municipal Corporation has taken action on five occasions, but the land mafia continues to rebuild on the disputed site each time. The last intervention took place in late December 2024, but without the registration of a case against the landowner, as was done in a previous instance in 2022, when the authorities allegedly filed a case under the name of an unknown person.

The latest incident has led to suspicions about whether senior officers within the Municipal Corporation may be involved or giving tacit approval to the land mafia's actions. Attempts to reach Dr. Rahul Gethe, Additional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner for Encroachment, for comment went unanswered.

In response to the situation, Prabodhan Mawade, Assistant Commissioner of the Turbhe Division, stated, "If the illegal construction near the Sai Baba Temple in Kopri village continues, strict action will be taken against it."