Hilltops and hill slopes have been declared ‘green zones’ under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act, 1966, and construction is not allowed on them.
Concerned about the proliferation of illegal constructions on hilltops and hill slopes bordering Pune, the district collector has announced the formation of eight special squads to look into the problem.
At present, these squads are surveying the hills in Katraj, Ambegaon, Jambhulwadi and Kolewadi. It is for the first time that such squads have been formed to conduct surveys of hilltops and hill slopes in the district.
Jaishree Katare, sub divisional officer (SDO) of Haveli, explained the reason for the formation of the squads. “For the past few months, we have been getting a large number of complaints from people regarding illegal activities on the hills in the above-mentioned villages. Last month, we slapped fines of more than Rs1 crore on erring people for illegally excavating portions of Katraj hill for laying a road.
“Prior to that, we had fined the housing society, Palm City in Kolewadi, for illegal construction on the hilltops. We observed that illegal constructions have mushroomed on the hills in these areas during our operations. Lack of proper supervision by the revenue officers led to this problem,” she said.
As per the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act, 1966, areas marked as hilltops and hill slopes are demarcated as ‘green zone’, with no construction activities allowed on them. Also, excavation of the hills for mining or laying of roads is not allowed without the permission of the district collector.
Another problem that Katare pointed out is the illegal demarcation of the land on hilltops and hill slopes into plots. “A large portion of the Katraj hills has been divided into plots and being sold to prospective buyers. This is completely illegal, as without the permission of the district collector, no one can demarcate plots on hilltop and hill slopes. People buying this land are being duped,” she said.
The authorities have also noticed people blasting through the hills to lay roads, destroying the biodiversity of the region. “The tehsildar is supposed to check the growth of illegal constructions. However, we realised that it was not possible for the tehsildar to visit the far-flung areas regularly. So, we decided to form the squads,” she said.
The squads will consist of revenue officers, who will have the power to immediately issue stop work notices and fine errant people.
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