PUNE: The Mhalunge-Maan town planning scheme is expected to receive necessary approvals for fast execution in the coming year with CM Devendra Fadnavis forming govt in the state, sources in PMRDA told TOI on Saturday. Fadnavis had announced the project during his previous stint as the chief minister six years ago.
The Mhalunge-Maan project, showcased at the Magnetic Maharashtra investor summit in 2018, drew keen interest from investors. The requirement of multiple approvals and clearances, however, held it up since then.
Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) officials said with Fadnavis now serving as both the CM and PMRDA chairman, the scheme was expected to be prioritised in the meeting to be held under his chairmanship in the coming year.
Citizens, who are part of the scheme, have raised concerns regarding the completion of the project. A beneficiary who gave up his land for the scheme said it was an extremely long wait. “It was initially held up because of the realignment of the plots as per flood lines. Though the revised plan was submitted before the Lok Sabha election, there has been no progress on it,” the beneficiary told TOI.
The scheme, along with five other town planning projects in various stages of development, is expected to be taken up in the upcoming meetings under the CM in the coming year. The PMRDA budget was cleared in Sept by the then CM, Eknath Shinde.
Besides the Mhalunge-Maan town planning, five projects require 751.55 hectares in Wadachiwadi, Autade Handewadi, Manjari Kolwadi and Holkarwadi. “While the initial funding will be allocated from PMRDA’s funds, the central urban infrastructure funds will also be available for these schemes,” another PMRDA official said.
The town planning schemes have been planned as revenue models for the proposed 128km PMRDA inner ring road. Altogether, 26 town planning schemes are expected along the first 32km stretch of the proposed ring road.
In the case of a town planning scheme, 50% of the developed land will be returned to the owner. Govt will appoint an arbitrator to hold hearings of the landholders for allotting the plots. After the hearing is completed, the draft will again be forwarded to govt for execution.
The Mhalunge-Maan town planning scheme is based on the Gujarat model, wherein 50% of the area of the original plot is deducted for the scheming purposes, while the remaining is allotted as the final plot to the concerned owner in the scheme
The entire area will have all the infrastructure, and the whole scheme area is laid out into final plots of different sizes and uses with a suitable road network proposed in the scheme
The preliminary plan was approved in Dec 2019, but subsequent changes in flood lines necessitated a variation. The scheme is to come up on 250.5 hectares and benefit 5,800 people
