mumbai the maharashtra governments policy of alloting land to private trusts at heavily subsidized rates has cost citizens dearsince the early 1990s large chunks of real estate in the four bungalowslokhandwala complex precinct in andheri have been parcelled off to trusts run by artistes politicians and bureaucrats some have commenced commercial activities others plan to do so while the odd plot has gone to seed some plots also lie vacant and unused years after they were allotted real estate in this area is among the costliest in the suburbs with flats selling around rs 25000 per sq ftopposite kokilaben ambani hospital whose land was allotted to heart surgeon nitu mandke at concessional rate is a large vacant patch of land overgrown with shrubs music director naushad was allotted this plot by the state government to build a music academy in 2004 he passed away two years later in 2006 to date not a brick has been laid upon the site according to a 1983 government resolution an allottee should be able to show that 25 of the funds required to construct the building is immediately available the balance should be available within two years and construction should begin if the rule is violated the government can begin the process of taking back the land from the allotteenaushads son rehman naushad said we do intend to fulfil my fathers dream and hope to begin construction within a month other trustees like composer uttam singh are doing their best to raise funds however singh shrugged off responsibility saying only naushads family was aware of the status of the projectalong lokhandwala road is congressman narayan ranes sindhudurg bhavan whose ground floor has been sublet to a marriage hall the fourth floor houses vacant classrooms according to the rules commercialization of the plots is not allowed and use of the allotted land for any purpose other than what it was given for is also prohibited toi met ranes son nilesh during a visit to the site he said we have been urging selfhelp groups to come and avail of this space free of cost we also invited students from mumbai university to come in fact so much controversy has erupted over this plot that we would not mind returning it if the government wishesrevenue minister eknath khadse said in the legislative council recently that the government would take back the plots if they are found to be misused a list of all the plots that are lying idle will be compiled and the process of taking back such land will also be initiatedin close vicinity is the gyan kendra educational trust it is led by subhash pandey a former bsp minister in uttar pradesh pandey received a windfall of no less than 15000 sq ft of prime property at concessional ratesin the first instalment he was granted 3000 sq metres of land where he built gyan kendra high school this plot was later amalgamated with an adjacent bmc playground that measures 4000 sq m