Pune-based river activist, Sarang Yadwadkar, in his RTI application had asked the PMC about the cost incurred in purchasing the land on survey number 75/3 and 75/4 in Kharadi for the forthcoming sewage treatment plant.
Rs56,701 for one square foot of land in Kharadi? If this sounds unbelievable, this is precisely what the land and estate department of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application on April 5, 2011.
Pune-based river activist, Sarang Yadwadkar, in his RTI application had asked the PMC about the cost incurred in purchasing the land on survey number 75/3 and 75/4 in Kharadi for the forthcoming sewage treatment plant (STP).
In its reply dated April 5, 2011 to Yadwadkar, the department said the PMC had paid Rs7.32 crore for land measuring 1.20R or 1,292 square feet (1 hectare equals 100R).
The figure was astronomical, given the fact that the state government’s registration and stamp duty ready reckoner (a copy of which is with DNA) for survey number 75 of the Kharadi area pitched the rate per square foot to Rs669 only.
Deputy municipal commissioner (land and estate), Sudhakar Deshmukh, clarified to DNA that it was a clerical error that had resulted in the confusion. Deshmukh said, “The figure has been wrongly mentioned as 1.2R, when it should have been written as 120R (one hectare, 20R, 1R being equal to 100 square metres and one square metre being equal 10.764 sq ft). When calculated using these equations, the cost per square foot amounts to Rs567.15 which is as per the law,” Deshmukh said.
Yadwadkar told DNA, “I am shocked at the carelessness and casual attitude with which the RTI applications are being treated by the PMC. This is not a good sign.”
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