Curation Team
PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation on Monday concluded the process of accepting suggestions and objections to its draft of the revised development plan.
“We received as many as 49,000 suggestions and objections from residents,” Prasad Gaikwad, deputy director of PCMC’s town planning department told TOI.
Gaikwad further said that a committee comprising civic officials and external experts will be formed to conduct hearings on these submissions before finalising the draft, which will then be sent to state govt for approval. The draft was approved at the standing committee meeting chaired by municipal commissioner and administrator Shekhar Singh on May 16.
As per the rules, the draft was published on the civic body’s website and made available to public viewing at the town planning department office. People were given a 60-day window to file their suggestions and objections from the date of publication.
Multiple resident associations and politicians objected to reservations for public amenities and proposed road networks. They argued that some proposed roads cut through densely populated residential areas, while certain amenity reservations were wrongly assigned. A protest march was recently organised by residents against the proposed High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR), which threatens existing residential structures.
Dhanaji Yelkar, convenor of the ‘Swabhimani Ghar Bachao’ committee, pointed out that although the HCMTR was part of the earlier DP, the route was not developed, and over time, several residential buildings came up along the alignment. “If the alignment is not revised, these homes will be impacted,” Yelkar said.
BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe, who recently raised the issue in the legislative council, demanded that the draft of the revised DP be scrapped, alleging that reservations were imposed on residential projects for which the plan was passed by PCMC. He said that the civic body also reserved land for bus stands and police stations on plots already designated for the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial.
Last month, religious groups and devotees raised objections against a proposed slaughterhouse in Moshi, around 4km from Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Temple in Alandi. Following the backlash, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that under no circumstances would govt allow a slaughterhouse near a religious site, and the reservation would be cancelled.
The draft of the revised DP covers 173.24 square km and was prepared keeping in mind the projected population growth of 42 lakh by 2031 and 61 lakh by 2041 in Pimpri Chinchwad, civic officials said.
