938-acre agricultural land to get urban stamp in Mundhwa

In a major development, the City Improvement Committee (CIC) of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Saturday has given approval to change the reservation of 938-acre agricultural land in Mundhwa to residential zone.

CIC chairman Virendra Kirad said the proposal was sanctioned with 9 voting for it and only 1 against it. Though it is learned that the BJP and Shiv Sena members later opposed the proposal, they had voted in its support at the meeting.

BJP-Sena blamed the ruling parties for taking the decision in the interest of builders. BJP member Anil Shirole, a CIC member, opposed the proposal but as he is a co-opted corporator in the PMC, the CIC did not count his vote. NCP corporator Subhash Jagtap also voted against the proposal.

The proposal will be send to the general body (GB) for ratification. After the GB’s approval, the PMC administration will call for suggestions and objections from citizens before sending the proposal to the state government for final sanction.

The civic administration had put the proposal before the CIC, claiming that if the proposal is passed, more land will be available for construction and there will be proper development of the area, besides preventing illegal structures.

Kirad said while approving the development plan (DP) for 1987, the state government had maintained the use of agricultural land in 12 villages around Pune city. The total land in the agricultural zone is 4,027 acres.

“However, due to rapid development, surrounding areas became a part of the city, forcing it to convert the area into residential zone,” Kirad said. The civic administration had put a proposal before the CIC in 1996, asking for permission to convert the entire area in 12 villages into residential zone. As there is no agricultural activity, the PMC and the state government jointly approved the administration’s proposal and deleted eight villages from the agricultural zone.

At present, agriculture zones are there in four villages — Mundhwa, Sangamwadi, Lohegaon and Pashan. The residents of these four villages have been demanding conversion of land to residential zone.

The state government had asked the PMC to make micro planning for these villages, so that basic amenities like road, hospitals and schools can be provided. The administration prepared a likewise report for Mundhwa and placed the
proposal before the CIC.