Deputy mayor mayor ups ante on BDP

Deputy mayor and Congress leader, Prasanna Jagtap, on Wednesday threatened to go on a token fast for a day next week to egg the state government to approve the long-pending development plan (DP) of 23 villages merged in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

He said that while approving the DP, the proposal of bio-diversity park (BDP) in it should not be kept in abeyance. The proposal for BDP should also be approved with a provision to allow construction on 8% of the land holding.

He said he would meet chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday, along with a delegation of land owners in the 23 villages, to press his demand. If the DP is not approved in the next few days, he would go on a token fast for a day in front of the PMC's main building, along with corporators.

PMC as a planning authority had prepared the DP of merged villages and sent to the state government in December 2005 for approval. The CM had declared in Pune on October 31 that the state would approve the DP with a provision of 4% construction in the proposed BDP.