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Indian Express
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
50,000 suggestions, objections pour in for PCMC's draft DP
Even as the process of receiving suggestions and objections to the draft Development Plan of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation ended on Monday, it has emerged that there is 'hope' for aggrieved citizens as the civic administration reserves the right to accept or reject their views. By July 14, around 50,000 suggestions and objections were collectively received by the Town Planning Department and the Development Plan Unit of the state government. 'We have received 49,570 suggestions and objections directly from citizens. We feel there are 400-500 suggestions and objections which have come online. So the figure could go up well beyond 50,000,' said a civic official. 'Most of the 50,000 submissions include objections by the citizens, activists and politicians to the reservations made by the DP Unit of the state government,' he added. Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh said, 'Now that the suggestions and objections have been received, the state government will appoint a planning committee through the director of town planning. The objections and suggestions will be placed before the Planning Committee….The committee will take the final decision and intimate it to the citizens. The decisions are then placed before the general body of the civic administration. The general body then takes decision on the objections and changes suggested by the planning committee…' The municipal commissioner said the general body has the right to accept or reject the changes or decisions taken by the planning committee. 'The general body has the final powers…After the general body takes the decision, it will go for approval before the state government,' the PCMC chief said. Civic officials said currently, the general body is headed by the municipal commissioner. When asked about this, the PCMC chief said, 'GB will take the final decision…,' while refusing to comment further. Officials said if the hearing is completed by the planning committee before the ensuing civic elections or before the Model Code of Conduct for civic polls comes into effect, the PCMC will get the opportunity to take a call on the planning committee decisions. 'If the process is not completed before the civic elections, then the new general body, which will have elected corporators, will take the final call,' officials said. For last two months, citizens in Pimpri-Chinchwad have been protesting against the draft DP as it threatens to bring down their homes constructed years ago. The reservations in the draft DP have drawn severe criticism from political leaders, activists and citizens. The reservations made by the DP Unit drew flak even from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who said under no circumstances will a slaughterhouse come up near the temple town of Alandi. A reservation for this facility has been made in the PCMC's draft development plan. Several other reservations like the plan for a bus depot and other facilities near Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue in Pimpri also drew criticism. Over 5,000 residents in Wakad, Thergaon and nearby areas have also protested the plan for a ring road which was to pass through their society premises. The 'wrong marking' of the floodline near the rivers also was debunked by activists. Seema Sawale, former chairperson of the PCMC's standing committee, who first raised the objections regarding the DP reservations for a slaughterhouse near Alandi, told The Indian Express, 'The draft DP is in favour of the rich and is against the poor and the middle-class. We hope the CM will scrap it and take action against those who made objectionable reservations.' The PCMC has been contending that it's role was limited to making suggestions and conveying the needs of the city to the DP unit. 'The municipal commissioner or the civic administration is not involved where individual reservations are concerned. That is the prerogative of the DP Unit. The municipal commissioner's responsbility is to ensure the needs of the city are properly reflected in the development plan and are conveyed to the DP Unit,' said a civic official. After the slaughterhouse reservation came to light, the PCMC had to clarify that it had suggested to the DP unit to make reservation for a slaughterhouse but not near Alandi. 'The decision for reserving the plot of land for slaughterhouse near Alandi was taken by the DP Unit itself apparently after their own surveys,' said a PCMC official. When asked whether the DP Unit had interacted with them before making reservations in the draft DP, Prasad Gaikwad, Deputy Director of Town Planning, said, 'We were not consulted neither informed about it. The DP Unit took the decisions after their own surveys…' On Tuesday, despite repeated calls, chief of the DP Unit Anupama Kulkarni did not respond. Earlier, she had said the reservations in the draft DP were not final. 'There is a long process involved in preparing the final DP,' she had said.
Indian Express
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
After CM cancels PCMC's abattoir plan near Alandi, MP Barne demands scrapping of entire draft DP
DAYS after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cancelled the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) plan to build a slaughterhouse near the temple town of Alandi, MP Shrirang Barne on Wednesday called for scrapping the entire draft Development Plan (DP) prepared by the DP Unit department. Barne accused members of the DP Unit department of preparing the draft DP without conducting any proper survey. 'The chief minister has done the right thing by scrapping the slaughterhouse plan. The reservation for the slaughterhouse plan was made by the DP Unit department. I think the CM should cancel the entire draft DP,' Barne told The Indian Express. Barne said it is difficult to believe the DP Unit department planned a slaughterhouse near Alandi. 'Alandi has religious and spiritual significance for every Maharashtrian. It's a place of great importance for the 'Marathi Manoos'. Yet, the DP Unit department made reservation for a slaughterhouse close to the temple town,' he said. He added that he has gone through some of the reservations made by the department in the draft DP. 'It seems they have not applied their mind properly. Slaughterhouse, burial grounds and cemeteries have been reserved at wrong places. Several reservations are bound to trigger protests across the city. I think the DP Unit department made the reservations without actually visiting the spots and surveying the areas,' he said. Citing instances, Barne said in areas like Kalewadi and Thergaon, the DP Unit has made reservations where there are residential houses. The Maval MP said he will file objections to the DP and take it up with the CM. 'I will write to the chief minister to scrap the entire draft DP,' he said. Barne said PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh and Town Planning officials cannot escape responsibility. 'The municipal commissioner has signed the draft DP and uploaded it on the PCMC website. Town Planning officials have also signed the draft DP. They took should be held responsible,' he said. Last week, the municipal commissioner told this paper that the civic administration has no role to play in the preparations of the draft DP. He said the draft DP was prepared by the DP Unit. When contacted, Anupama Kulkarni, who heads the DP Unit, said, 'The draft DP is not the final document. There is a long process before the DP is finalised.' 'We conducted proper survey before preparing the draft DP,' she said while refusing to take further questions. Echoing the views of Barne, civic activist Sarang Kamtekar said, 'The draft DP shows there was lack of coordination between the PCMC and the DP Unit. Ideally, the DP Unit should have first consulted and discussed the reservation issue with PCMC officials. They should have conducted a wide range of discussions with those who know the city well. It could be people's representatives or could be long-time residents and activists of Pimpri-Chinchwad. It seems the DP Unit members who are state government employees and have nothing to do with Pimpri-Chinchwad have whimsically made reservations.' 'In Pimpri area where the Sindhi community has been doing business for several decades is sought to be displaced by the draft DP,' he said. Another activist Avinash Chilekar said, 'If the draft DP is approved by the state government, it will cause havoc in the industrial city. Thousands of houses will have to make way for so-called development. Any development that will resettle a city and disturb the lives of people is of no use. Development activities should ensure the progress of the people. It should not throw their lives in disarray.' Seema Sawale, former PCMC standing committee chairperson, who had first raised the issue of slaughterhouse plan near Alandi, said, 'Now it has come to light that they have made reservations for a police station, a bus depot and other things in around Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue in Pimpri. The place is sacred for lakhs of Ambedkarite. As a former PCMC panel chief, I am going to register my complaint with the CM and demand the scrapping of the entire draft DP,' she said. Marathi actor Sandeep Sakore said, 'It's not a draft DP but an anti-Development Plan. If one goes through the draft DP reservations, it makes one wonder whether the DP Unit members have carefully studied the terrain and topography of the PCMC or not. Have they even gone to the spots to see for themselves what Pimpri-Chinchwad actually is all about. I agree with the views of the Maval MP that the entire draft DP should be cancelled by the state government.' Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades. Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died. Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
