State to complete devpt plan process for old city

Pune: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





State Claims PMC Got Enough Extensions, But Failed To Stick To Deadline

The state government on Friday took over the Development Plan (DP) for the old city areas and appointed a three-member committee headed by divisional commissioner S Chokalingam to prepare a plan.The state reasoned that the civic body had failed to complete the procedure within the stipulated period and refused any further extension. Mayor Dattatreya Dhankawde said the PMC would challenge the decision in court.
CM Devendra Fadnavis said, “As per the (MR&TP) Act section 30, it is observed that PMC is unable to present the DP to the state government within the extended period of March 19, 2015. Hence, as per the section 162, a committee of three members under the chairmanship of Pune divisional commissioner comprising municipal commissioner of Pune and town planning joint director will complete the remaining work (of the plan) and submit it to the government as per the state's decision.“ Urban development department principal secretary Nitin Kareer told TOI, “The state had already given an extension to the PMC. In fact, there were five GB meetings conducted before the deadline March 19, but no decision was taken. The government decided to take over the plan based on the dates and information provided by the PMC. It was impossible for the state to give any further extension to the PMC to approve the plan.“
Dhankawde told reporters that the state government had “encroached upon“ PMC's rights. “Taking away the DP from the PMC is an infringement of the rights of elected representatives and citizens.We will fight against the state,“ he said. The three-member committee appointed by the state government to draw up the development plan (DP) for the old city areas in Pune will start work and finalize the plan within six months.
It can make changes in the plan and suggest or delete reservations for amenities.
The plan, when it was with the civic body , was mired in politics with corporators making changes as per their whims and fancy , while the city suffered from the slow pace of development. The opposition had accused the ruling NCP and the Congress of “manipulating“ the DP in favour of the builders' lobby .
The PMC is the planning authority for the development plan. It published the draft on March 28, 2013, as per the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MR&TP) Act. The general body (GB) of the PMC had to complete the approval procedure immediately .
The DP lays out policies and proposals for the use of land. It is meant to guide decisions on whether development permission should be granted under the development control rules. These decisions must be consistent and match the DP adopted by the authority, after public consultation.
The state gave a six-month (September 28, 2013) extension to approve the plan and a further extension of one year. It also considered the PMC's request for 172 days since the PMC could not decide on the DP because of a court case and the code of conduct for the Lok Sabha and state elections.
“The state has given all extensions possible and the PMC was supposed to approve the DP and submit it to the state before March 19, 2015,“ said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in a statement.
Civic organizations have been keenly monitoring the DP . Earlier this month, they wrote to the CM that it was a poor plan, made without application with provisions that will be disastrous for the city.
“We request an opportunity to make a presentation to you so that you may gauge the enormity of the problem. It may be noted that over 80,000 suggestions and objections were filed by the citizens of Pune, showing widespread opposition to the plan,“ said the letter which was also signed by urban planners, architects and other individuals.
The plan drawn up by the town planning cell was submitted to the City Improvement Committee (CIC), which took over a year before it submitted it to the GB. The CIC made hundreds of modifications to the plan. The GB made hundreds more, they said.
“During this entire period, the plan was not available to the public, while many builders had a copy. Even after the plan was published, only low resolution images of the maps have been uploaded on the PMC's website, while the civic body is in possession of high resolution maps. The PMC has refused to make these maps available to the public,“ alleged members of organizations including Parisar, Sajag Nagrik Manch, National Society for Clean Cities and Save Pune Traffic Movement.