Lavasa area too faces landslide threat, claims social activist Medha Patkar

Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday claimed that the Lavasa lake city region near here too faced a threat of landslide, similar to the one that flattened the Malin village in Ambegaon tehsil in the district last week.

Patkar, who was here to find out about the rescue work going on at Malin, alleged that the promoters of the Lavasa hill township (HCC) had indulged in illegal cutting of trees, breaking of stones and digging, flouting environmental rules.

"I would like to warn that there is a possibility that Lavasa township region and adjoining villages too could face the danger of landslide," Patkar told reporters.

Referring to NCP president Sharad Pawar's support for township development projects and his recent statement that there are as many as 26 sites in Maharashtra that could be developed on the lines of Lavasa to boost tourism, she questioned the rationale behind it and hoped that such projects would not get sanction.