MUMBAI, July 30 -- A major controversy has erupted over the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) granting Rs 2,800 crore worth of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) to a private company against forest land in Thane. TMC corporators on Tuesday questioned the legality of this and voiced concerns about the pressure the proposed project would put on Thane's environment and infrastructure. Denying any role in it, municipal commissioner Saurabh Rao blamed the forest department, saying it had failed to challenge the Bombay high court order which granted the TDR to the private company in time. However, documents show that the forest department had sought permission to file a Special Leave Petition from the law and judiciary department well in advance but the latter kept it pending. The issue pertains to a 50-year-old ownership land dispute between the forest department and D Dahyabhai and Co Pvt Ltd. The 193 acres in question in Thane's Chitalsar Pada-Manpada area were acquired from the company in 1975 under the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act. The forest department claims that it is part of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park notified eco-sensitive area. The company initially challenged the acquisition, but in 1979, withdrew its petition and submitted an application to the revenue department to resolve the dispute. In June 1980, the deputy collector (reserve forest) gave a verdict that pronounced 168 acres of the land as forest land and excluded the rest. The forest department challenged this in the revenue tribunal. After a long legal battle, the Bombay high court in February 2026 rejected the forest department's petition and ordered the TMC to issue Rs 2,800 crore worth of TDR to the company against the 100 acres retained by it for a public park reservation. The forest department had objected to this reservation which was put while the legal battle was on. The TMC then filed a petition in the Supreme Court, stating that the company had not fulfilled legal compliances like the 7/12 extract, fencing for the land and other provisions. On May 26, the SC disposed of the TMC's petition after it was informed that the civic body had a settlement with D Dahyabhai and Co Pvt Ltd on the land. Local BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar and NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad had demanded an inquiry at that point. On Tuesday, the issue led to an uproar in the TMC's general body meeting, with BJP and NCP corporators slamming the administration. During the TMC meeting on Tuesday, corporators alleged that while the original proposal involved around 32,000 square metres of FSI, the administration was now proposing to grant nearly 7.4 lakh square metres of FSI through TDR. Corporators Siddharth Owalekar, Narayan Pawar and Manohar Dumbare pointed out that this would lead to a substantial loss of government revenue, put immense pressure on civic infrastructure and adversely affect landowners due to a possible fall in TDR market prices. The TMC corporators demanded that the administration disclose the rules under which such a large quantity of TDR was granted and the total revenue that the municipal corporation and state government stood to lose because of the decision. Replying to the concerns, TMC commissioner Saurabh Rao claimed that he had even gone beyond his official duty and personally requested the forest department to challenge the HC decision in the Supreme Court. "I am even ready to make those chats/messages public," he said. "The fact remains that the forest department did not move the SC within the given time frame."...