Mumbai: Residents of more than half a dozen villages and hamlets in Vasai fear a flood-like situation this monsoon as a 23ft-wide natural drainage channel has shrunk to a 6ft-wide concrete nullah built by the landowners.This water channel, located at Devdal near an ashramshala, flows into Kaman creek in Vasai East.Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) officials said no construction is allowed in the water channel and the parties concerned have been told to demolish it. Assistant municipal commissioner Nilesh Mhatre said, “We had a meeting with the landowners and directed them to demolish the illegal construction in the nullah and revert it to its original width….if they fail to do so, we will raze it.”Following several complaints by the villagers, revenue officials and Naigaon police conducted a panchnama (spot inspection) and their reports have confirmed that the natural drainage channel has been “disturbed” by creating a concrete nullah with a reduced size. When contacted, sub-divisional officer Shekhar Ghadge, however, said the revenue department has no role in the demolition of the nullah. He later avoided answering why the tatathi conducted a panchnama if the nullah was not their jurisdiction.Activist Kamlakar Jadhav said the nullah would overflow every monsoon, and now that its width has been reduced, these 7-8 villages are bound to get flooded. In Kaman, illegal constructions have covered 10- 12 lakh sq ft of land, encroaching upon parts of Chinchoti riverbank, said activist Deepak Rao. “VVCMC issues notices, but doesn’t convert them into FIRs, that’s why there is no deterrent,” he added.Mumbai: Residents of more than half a dozen villages and hamlets in Vasai fear a flood-like situation this monsoon as a 23ft-wide natural drainage channel has shrunk to a 6ft-wide concrete nullah built by the landowners. This water channel, located at Devdal near an ashramshala, flows into Kaman creek in Vasai East.Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) officials said no construction is allowed in the water channel and the parties concerned have been told to demolish it. Assistant municipal commissioner Nilesh Mhatre said, “We had a meeting with the landowners and directed them to demolish the illegal construction in the nullah and revert it to its original width….if they fail to do so, we will raze it.”Following several complaints by the villagers, revenue officials and Naigaon police conducted a panchnama (spot inspection) and their reports have confirmed that the natural drainage channel has been “disturbed” by creating a concrete nullah with a reduced size. When contacted, sub-divisional officer Shekhar Ghadge, however, said the revenue department has no role in the demolition of the nullah. He later avoided answering why the tatathi conducted a panchnama if the nullah was not their jurisdiction.Activist Kamlakar Jadhav said the nullah would overflow every monsoon, and now that its width has been reduced, these 7-8 villages are bound to get flooded. In Kaman, illegal constructions have covered 10- 12 lakh sq ft of land, encroaching upon parts of Chinchoti riverbank, said activist Deepak Rao. “VVCMC issues notices, but doesn’t convert them into FIRs, that’s why there is no deterrent,” he added.