Benefits of being the brother of an RTI activist

On Monday night i.e. 16/04/2018, my brother Shri Tushar Dalal was hauled from meeting at Manchha Complex and beaten before asking to call me at the venue. Since I was not in Daman they tortured him for almost 2 hours before they could let him go.

There is one building coming up at Mashal Chowk, Nani Daman on Survey No. 419/3 in-between Manchha Complex and Manchha Empire. The project was given clearance by Daman Municipal Council on dated 22/12/2016, within 4 months of issuing License, a Show Cause Notice was issued for violations in front set back and side setbacks on dated 12/04/2017 but without any effect on the builder. The work of the project was carried out in full swing, within a year project is ready for possession.

I made an RTI inquire about the status of Show Cause Notice wherein the Chief Officer-cum-Public Information Officer of Daman Municipal Council informed that they have not received any reply to said Notice and also informed me that he is ready to visit the site with me. On dated 12/04/2018, I along with Shri Vaibhav Rikhari, the Chief Officer, Shri Rakesh Patel and Shri Keyur Patel, both Junior Engineers from Daman Municipal Council visited the project site and found that even after issuance of Show Cause Notice, work on the project is going on full swing and no corrections were made to the project as per the observation in the Notice. The Fire Department has also denied NOC for this project.

Because they knew that they have done illegal work, the builders got frightened and from the meeting, they dragged Shri Tushar Dalal, my brother, outside of the meeting venue and started thrashing him. Shri Bhavesh Kanti Patel, Shri Rajani Uttam Patel, Shri Rakesh Uttam Patel, Shri Kiran Uttam Patel along their goons had taken an active part in the beating. Wife of Shri Rajani Uttam Patel was also present and she was directing Rajani and encouraging him. Wife of Rajani is a teacher in Government School in Daman. It can be very well imagined the type and quality of education such kind teacher of imparts.

This is how Whistle Blowers are treated if Govt. fails to act on time. If DMC had taken action at the time of Show Cause Notice and had taken steps to stop the project, RTI wouldn’t have been made.

There are already 52 buildings in Daman with irregularities which are held up for want of Completion Certificate and this building in an addition to those 52 buildings, now there are 53 buildings being held up.

The moot question here is that what is the fault of buyers? Buyers don’t get their property nor money back, who is responsible for such malpractice? The responsibility should be fixed on someone and the whole amount should be recovered from that person.

I salute my brother Shri Tushar Dalal for his bravery. He stood alone before those goons and took their pressure for almost two hours.