And if the bureaucrats of the Thane Collectorate, who are enjoying a free run in MBMC after the dissolution of the council have their way, the next two to three months will see more than 200 unauthorised structures in the area biting the dust.

``We had given up hope that the civic authorities would never take any action against the thousands of illegal buildings in the area. But suddenly, there's a lot of action and the results are there for everyone to see,'' said Razakali, a resident of Rashmi Park in Mira Road.

Razakali's building is situated about 300 metres away from the two four-storeyed buildings in Town Centre, an illegal commercial complex constructed by one Roopchand Jain whichwas blasted to rubble on June 9.

``As the councillors and officials of the erstwhile MBMC promoted illegal constructions and gave them thousands of illegal water connections, the demolition drive, if sustained, will surely bring some relief to the residents Bhayandar and Mira Road,'' he said.

The other building which was demolished with dynamite was the three-storeyed Golden Nest, on the Kashimira Road.

If the general mood of the residents is aptly reflected by Razakali, the authorities of MBMC seems to have begun work with renewed vigour, in the complete absence local political pressure.

``The use of dynamite saves us a lot of time and manpower, as demolishing a building the conventional way needs a demolition squad of about 20-25 persons who have to toil for a whole day or even longer. Besides being cost effective, the beauty of using dynamite is that with a little planning and precaution it just takes one or two big blasts to reduce the entire concrete structure to a heap of rubble,'' saidSub-Divisional Officer (Thane), Bhalchandra Thakre, who has been appointed as the president of the MBMC after its dissolution.

He explained that the use of dynamite was possible only in buildings which were unoccupied and not situated in congested areas. ``All the three buildings which have been demolished with dynamite so far were not occupied and more importantly, situated in open areas. We of course have to adhere to several guidelines and rules so as to ensure that the blast does not cause any untoward damage to property in the vicinity the targeted building. The dynamite is exploded under the guidance and supervision of experts from the mining department and the explosives department who have come down specially for these operations,'' Thakre said.

As an added precaution, the traffic on the road is stopped about a 100 metres away from the building, and the residents of the buildings in the neighbourhood are also instructed to stay indoors.

``We have planned to demolish all those buildings wherethere are no pending litigations with the use of dynamite, though the final details are yet to be worked out in many cases,'' Thakre added.

The demolitions have been meticulously planned -- after a combined study of the records of the MBMC's encroachment department, the town planning department and the District Collectorate -- the collectorate has prepared a list of approximately 300 illegal structures in MBMC's jurisdiction. The operations are being carried out with active support of the police.