PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has approved Rs1.13 crore for the measurement of red zone areas in its limits. The work will commence in January next year and is expected to complete within a month.
The initiative follows the December 8 fire at an illegal sparkling candle manufacturing unit in the red zone in Talawade, which left 14 workers, mostly women, dead.
The measurement work will be completed by the land records department. The detailed report will be shared with the civic administration for clear demarcation of boundaries to identify the prohibited areas.
Red zone is the area around sensitive defence establishments where construction is prohibited under the Works of Defence Act, 1903. According to officials, 2,000-yard area around Dehu Road ordnance depot and 1,200 yards around Dighi magazine depot in Pimpri Chinchwad comes under the red zone.
The civic body will spend Rs 1.07 crore to measure the land in the Dehu Road area and Rs 6.66 lakh in the Dighi area. “The measurement is necessary to clear doubts about properties that do not fall in the prohibited zone. Stones will be installed to make the boundaries clear. It will also pave the way for the development of many reserved lands that have not been developed in the last few years due to the prevailing confusion,” Prasad Gaikwad, deputy director of the town planning department of PCMC, told TOI.
There are over 4,000 properties, including commercial and residential, in the two red zone areas in the Pimpri Chinchwad limits. Some parts of Nigdi, Ravet, Kiwale, Talawade and Chikhali fall in the red zone in the Dehu Road area. Similarly, some parts of Moshi, Bhosari, Dighi and Wadmukhwadi fall in the Dighi red zone. In Talawade alone, there are over 3,000 industrial units in the red zone area, where over 1 lakh people are employed.
Gaikwad said the demarcation would also clear doubts among people planning to invest in properties in these areas. “The citizens can verify the red zone areas before purchasing any property once the measurement is completed,” he said.
