Upgrade Panvel council to corporation level rather merging it with civic body, says Prashant Thakur

The Panvel Congress has opposed merger of developed areas in the town with Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and has instead batted for upgrading Panvel Municipal Council (PMC) to corporation level.

“The urban development department had convened a meeting on Tuesday at Mantralaya to decide on merger of developed areas in Panvel with NMMC. We are opposed to this move, primarily as it is a taluka place and part of Raigad district. Today, area around Panvel municipal council, Cidco areas and regions developed by NAINA are attracting attention,” said Panvel MLA Prashant Thakur.

He added, “Instead of merging developed areas of Panvel in civic body, PMC should be upgraded to the corporation level. A few years ago, proposal to upgrade PMC was made but due to opposition of villagers the matter was kept in abeyance. The area has been developed by Cidco and instead of attaching it to NMMC a corporation can be created in Panvel itself.” Meanwhile, a civic official, said, “The proposal to merger of Kharghar and Kalamboli areas is as old as 2004 and meetings are going on continuously in Mantralaya in this regard. However, no decision has been taken yet.”

Additional director of town planning, Prakash Thakur, who attended the meeting at Mantralaya on Tuesday to discuss the matter, was unavailable for comment. There are 17 gram panchayats in Panvel taluka. Earlier, when the decision to form a corporation in Panvel was taken local leaders opposed the move, saying, there will be a hike in taxes if corporation comes into existence.

However, with changing times there is a need to upgrade PMC to corporation so that better infrastructure and facilities are available to people.