'I did not handle the file; the revenue department was concerned with the matter,' Chavan said. He added that he could not go further into the matter as he had quit the post himself.
When social activist Anna Hazare petitioned then Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan for punitive action against the Lavasa lake city project near Pune for “massive irregularities”, it was forwarded to then revenue minister Narayan Rane, the person against whom charges had been levelled for allowing illegal activities in the project.
“I did not handle the file; the revenue department was concerned with the matter,” Chavan told DNA. He added that he could not go further into the matter as he had quit the post himself.
But now, there is a different regime in Maharashtra. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan not only shares a good working relationship with Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh but is also considered part of the anti-Sharad Pawar group.
His six years in the PMO have given a sharp administrative edge to his persona and Lavasa was his second test case, first being the swiftness with which he secured clearance for the Navi Mumbai project. The Lavasa project’s link with the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar is well-known as he not only conceived it, but chose his trusted friend Ajit Gulabchand to develop it as well.
Now, political observers wonder that with Lavasa facing the heat from Jairam Ramesh, would the Maharashtra government also get into the act against it? Consider that Rane is no longer the revenue minister; the portfolio is held by Prithviraj Chavan himself. Hazare in his petition has listed a series of violations, the most important being the delegation of special powers of the government to a private company for the first time in the country
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