May not go ahead with town planning scheme if residents oppose: PCMC commissioner
EVEN as the civic administration of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is getting ready to demolish as many as 34 structures within the blue floodline of Indrayani river at Chikhli, at the same time it has decided that it will not go ahead with the Town Planning Scheme if local residents are strongly opposed to it.
'If more than 50 per cent of the residents oppose the town planning scheme we will not go ahead with it,' Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh told this paper today.
The PCMC administration has decided to implement the Town Planning Scheme in Kudalwadi and Chikhli areas besides Charholi area. In Chikhli and Kudalwadi areas, the PCMC had in a couple of months demolished as many as 4500 illegal structures including godowns.
Last week, after PCMC declared its intention to implement the Town Planning Scheme in these suburbs, local residents protested.
Santosh Tapkir, a resident of Charholi said,'Since the PCMC announced its intention to implement the Town Planning Scheme in our area, there is strong opposition from all local residents. Actually, there is not a single resident who is supporting the scheme. We have heard that PCMC will not go ahead with the scheme if 50 percent of residents oppose it…In our area, there is a hundred percent opposition. So we are hoping that the scheme will not be implemented in our area. If PCMC goes ahead, then it will face opposition from the residents.'
Mangesh Mate, a farmer, said,'Charholi was included in PCMC in 1997 but the actual merger happened in 2007. Since then PCMC several farmers and residents in our Charholi area lost their land which became reserved in the development plan. We did not get compensation. Now when the PCMC is trying to implement the development plans, it is trying to bring in another scheme. If the TP scheme is implemented, it will require a long process to actually come into effect which will further delay the development of our area.'
Mate alleged that the residents suspect that the scheme is intended to benefit some builders. 'We have serious doubts about the scheme. We believe that PCMC was holding a brief for some top builders. The scheme is not in our interest. It is in the interest of the builders,' he alleged.
PCMC administration however said the aim of the TP scheme is to ensure proper development of the area.
Officials said the PCMC intends to implement the TP scheme on 380 hectare land in Chikhali-Kudalwadi and 1425 hectare land in Charholi.
Prasad Gaikwad, Deputy Director, Town Planning, PCMC, last week told this paper that the TP scheme is being implemented to ensure that these areas which had seen illegal structures do not again become such a thing again. Town Planning schemes have been implemented by PMRDA and Pune Municipal Corporation. 'They are the best way to ensure planned development without getting trapped into a lengthy land acquisition process. The PCMC will be benefiting by getting 15 per cent development land during this process,' he had said.
Gaikwad said the Town Planning scheme will be handed over to the same builder which had been alloted the scheme in 2011. 'We intend to hand over the scheme to the same firm which had earlier carried out TP schemes in other places and which had been alloted the work earlier,' he said.
Meanwhile, the PCMC commissioner said they would soon be demolishing 34 illegal bungalows which had come within the blue floodline of the Indrayani river. 'Now the Supreme Court has given its verdict, we will be demolishing the structures before the rain. ' Singh told The Indian Express on Tuesday.
The 34 illegal bungalows will be constructed in 2020-21 in Chikhali area near Indrayani river. The National Green Tribunal had termed the bungalows as illegal as they were constructed within the blue flood line of the river. The residents had approached the Supreme Court which had stayed the NGT order in December last year. On May 5, the SC dismissed the plea of the residents. Along with the demolition, the residents have also been told to pay Rs 5 crore as environmental damage cost.
Mahesh Patil, one of the affected residents, said now their only hope is in the order of the State Water Resources Ministry. 'The Ministry has ordered a re-survey of the floodline in Pimpri-Chinchwad. If a re-survey is conducted, we are hopeful of saving some of the structures. We have approached the PCMC as well as the state government in this regard,' he said.
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