A year later, govt clears 4 of 6 town planning schemes proposed by PMRDA

Pune: The urban development department has cleared four of the six town planning schemes proposed more than one year ago by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, officials said on Saturday.
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Of the remaining two, the proposal for Maan-Mhalunge — once showcased as a model scheme in 2018 — is still under assessment. The Manjari Khurd-Kolwadi scheme was rejected on technical grounds, particularly in plot demarcation, for which the proposal will have to be re-submitted after making the appropriate changes, a PMRDA official said.
The four approved proposals —Autade Handewadi, two in Holkarwadi, and Vadachiwadi — will cover a combined area of nearly 520 hectares.
The department is expected to issue a formal notification for the clearances along with a rejection notice for the Manjari proposal, which will span 233.35 hectares, next week.
A senior PMRDA official expressed frustration at the prolonged delay in receiving the nod. "We have no idea why it took so long. These are growth centres and should have been cleared much earlier." The delay, he said, impacted the region's pace of development.
These six schemes will collectively cover more than 1,000 hectares. Notably, the Maan-Mhalunge proposal, which will cover around 250 hectares, was initially cleared, but had to be revised and submitted again after plots were found to be marked on flood lines.
With the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections last year, there was no significant movement on the proposals. However, the recent PMRDA budget included in principle approval for 15 additional TP schemes, signalling a renewed push for planned urban growth.
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The schemes are strategically planned along the proposed 82-km ring road to enable organised development across 5,000 hectares in the Pune Metropolitan Region.
Residents affected by the delay in implementation, such as Mohit Mehta from Manjari, voiced concerns. "If the scheme is rejected and must be re-submitted, then no project will begin this year. The land marked for development will remain in limbo," he said.
In this scenario, builders too delay planning their projects, a Holkarwadi resident said.
"If govt approves the scheme, it will benefit the area as infrastructure development can start and the ring road will ensure better connectivity," said a developer who plans to launch his project in Holkarwadi.
Officials too warned that further delays in state clearance could stall the disbursement of Central infrastructure funds, thereby affecting project timelines.
All the proposed TP schemes will be implemented on the Gujarat model, wherein landowners receive 50% of the developed land back. Central govt committed to funding Rs25 crore for each of these six schemes, while PMRDA allocated Rs125 crore from its own budget.
The Vadachiwadi scheme will cover 134.79 hectares, Autade Handewadi 94.44 hectares, and the two Holkarwadi projects 158.19 hectares and 130.78 hectares, respectively.

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