Chavan wondered whether any study was carried out before embarking on the project, and asked for estimates of revenue the civic body would gain if the project is implemented on BOT basis.
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has raised questions about the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) ambitious business centre project to be set up on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. He sought details of the project in a letter to the municipal commissioner, Ashish Sharma, on Tuesday.
Chavan wondered whether any study was carried out before embarking on the project, and asked for estimates of revenue the civic body would gain if the project is implemented on BOT basis.
His missive raises doubts whether the PCMC would be able to complete the project.
The business centre is being built on Survey No 221 in Chinchwadgaon. The PCMC began the construction work 5 years ago and has spent Rs1.2 crore on it. But the civic body decided to opt for the BOT scheme due to paucity of funds and sought permission from the state government.
Some activists have welcomed the stand taken by Chavan. The president of the social organisation, Nagari Hakka Suraksha Kriti Samiti, Manav Kamble, and Congress corporator from Chinchwad, Raju Golande, have opposed the PCMC plan to complete the project on BOT basis, claiming the civic body will suffer losses.
Both Kamble and Golande wrote to the civic chief a few months ago, stating their objections. They said the PCMC had promised shops on the ground floor of the business centre to those who had lost shops due to road widening and other development projects.
If the PCMC undertakes the project on BOT basis, the displaced shopkeepers would be left in the lurch.
The activists said it was strange that the PCMC suddenly decided to complete the project on BOT basis, when 70% of the work had already been done by the civic body.
The officials claimed that the project would need at least Rs1 crore more for completion.
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