| Publication: The Times Of India Pune; | Date: Oct 31, 2011; | Section: Times City; | Page: 4 |
20 FRINGE VILLAGES IN LINE FOR MERGER
Once Amalgamated, Agri Land May Be Converted For Realty Like Mundhwa's
Radheshyam Jadhav | TNN
Pune: City-based politicians are keen that the state government approves the merger of 20 fringe villages with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) so that, on the face of it, Pune will see integrated development.
However, the lucrative realty business is at the heart of this urgency, going by the Mundhwa experience where 938 acres of agricultural land was recently converted to residential use, paving the way for construction. Mundhwa, largely agrarian till the conversion of land use, grew sugarcane on vast tracts. The civic body has also approved another proposal to convert agricultural patches in Lohegaon, Pashan and Sangamwadi for residential use.
Once the 20 villages are merged, it will throw open thousands of acres of farmland for development. A consensus-building exercise urging corporators to approve the merger proposal is currently underway.
Steering the merger proposal is the ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). According to its leaders, the villagers want to be with the Pune Municipal Corporation as the gram panchayats cannot provide basic amenities to the urbanised villages.
"All parties are in favour of the merger. But they want to delay it because of the fear that the NCP would benefit politically from the amalgamation as it would increase our party's base among the masses," said NCP corporator Nilesh Nikam.
The civic administration has already cleared t h e merger in a proposal tabled in 2007 where it re c o m m e n d e d the inclusion of the remaining fringe villages. Civic officials suggested that the de-linking was leading to unplanned growth and sought the support of elected representatives in preventing a Dhankawdi, Kalas and Vadgaonsheri-like situation where development outpaced amenities. "We are not against conversion of agricultural land for residential use. But one has to look at the intentions behind the motive. The civic body is preparing a DP for the old city which means an inclusive and comprehensive vision for the development of the city. By converting agriculture land in city area by bits and pieces we are just encouraging haphazard and unplanned development," said senior BJP corporator Anil Shirole. Shiv Sena leader in the PMC Sham Deshpande questioned the NCP's intentions. "The ruling party is not clean in its intentions when it comes to land issues. There are various players who have vested interests in land issues in Pune," said Deshpande.
However, the process of consensus building has started in the PMC. " A group of corporators, many in the realty business, wants the merger. Various townships are already coming up around Pune and once thousands of acres agriculture land is opened for construction, the realty market in Pune will witness the next boom," a senior civic official said.
"When the Mundhwa land was converted to residential purpose use, except the Shiv Sena, all those who opposed the proposal changed their minds on the floor of the house and supported the proposal. The BJP factions (Munde and Gadkari), which don't share the dais for party programmes, joined hands to approve the proposal. Eventually, all the political parties will support the merger proposal," said a corporator who is in the realty business.
The 20 villages were part of the original 38 merged with the PMC in 1997. However, the state had de-linked them in October 2001 following protests by the villagers over reservations on their farm lands in the draft development plan (DP). Subsequently, 15 villages were de-linked completely; five were partially separated wherein some parts of these villages remained with the civic body while the rest was with the gram panchayat. Though the civic body has 23 fringe villages under its limits, only 18 are included. The remaining five have been partially included. In March 2010, elected representatives pushed for the merger of the 20 villages in the PMC's limits claiming that the villagers now wanted the merger. The proposal will be tabled before the general body soon. If merged, the civic body's geographical limit will expand to 410 sq km from the current 243.84 sq km.
SHRINKING FARMLANDS
nnn According to the state government's Economic Survey for 2009-10, 42.43 % of its population of 9.68 crore resides in urban areas, boosting the demand for land for residential projects
nnn Of the state's 3.08 lakh sq km area, in 1960-61 about 1.78 lakh hectares of land was under agriculture. The figure has come down by 4,05,000 hectares (10,00,350 acres) to 1.74 lakh hectares, according to the 2009-10 survey
nnn The gross cropped area in the state has gone up by 38.32 lakh hectares (94,65,040 acres) because of increased irrigation facilities
nnn The gross cropped area in the state is 2,26,55,000 hectares, of which 40,37,000 hectares (17.8 per cent) is gross irrigated area and remaining is rain-fed
nnn In Pune district, townships are being constructed on about 60 to 70 km away from the city, and each of these special townships requires 100 acres of land
GROWTH STORY
lll In 1997, 36 villages were included in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits. As a result, the PMC limits increased from 146 sq km to 450.69 sq.km
lll However, in 2001, after a few villages were delinked, the PMC area was reduced to 243.96 sq.km. During the 180-year span from 1817 to 1997, urban areas in and around the city (including areas under adjoining municipal bodies) have grown from five sq km to 700 sq km
lll The city has especially expanded in post-Independence era. According to the Pune Municipal Corporation estimated statistics from 1901 to 2011, the city's urban population has grown from 1.64 lakh to about 33 lakh.
lll The state government's relaxation of restrictions on conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses has led to agricultural land in the fringes of the city like Hadapsar, Mundhwa and Kondhwa, Sinhagad Road and Wadgaon Dhayari becoming residential.
lll The government ordinance in 1994, which stated that permission for non-agricultural use of agricultural land is not required in areas where the Regional Town Planning Act, 1966 is in operation or a legally declared industrial zones exists or is finally accepted or proposed also boosted such growth.
lll Moreover, in November 1996, the government threw open hilltops, slopes and forest areas in the state for development as hill stations, tourist and holiday homes. This brought private players to the scene.
TIMES VIEW
Converting small pieces of agricultural land into residential results in haphazard development around the city. Dhankawadi is one such example. A fully functional regulatory authority like the PMRDA is necessary for governing the rapid growth that is taking place in the villages that are presently outside the municipal boundaries but which fall within the larger Pune metropolitan area. The authorities should press for town planning schemes in these villages and should crack down on illegal constructions coming up on farm lands there. Political leaders too need to support the authorities in such endeavours to ensure that villages with planned development come in the PMC's fold.
SLATED FOR MERGER Mhalunge, Sus, Bavdhan Budruk, Kirkatwadi, Khadakwasla, Nanded, Narhe, New Kopre, Uttamnagar, Kondhwe Dhavde, Manjri Budruk, Keshavnagar, Sadesatara Nali, Pisoli, Lohegaon.
Pune: City-based politicians are keen that the state government approves the merger of 20 fringe villages with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) so that, on the face of it, Pune will see integrated development.
However, the lucrative realty business is at the heart of this urgency, going by the Mundhwa experience where 938 acres of agricultural land was recently converted to residential use, paving the way for construction. Mundhwa, largely agrarian till the conversion of land use, grew sugarcane on vast tracts. The civic body has also approved another proposal to convert agricultural patches in Lohegaon, Pashan and Sangamwadi for residential use.
Once the 20 villages are merged, it will throw open thousands of acres of farmland for development. A consensus-building exercise urging corporators to approve the merger proposal is currently underway.
Steering the merger proposal is the ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). According to its leaders, the villagers want to be with the Pune Municipal Corporation as the gram panchayats cannot provide basic amenities to the urbanised villages.
"All parties are in favour of the merger. But they want to delay it because of the fear that the NCP would benefit politically from the amalgamation as it would increase our party's base among the masses," said NCP corporator Nilesh Nikam.
The civic administration has already cleared t h e merger in a proposal tabled in 2007 where it re c o m m e n d e d the inclusion of the remaining fringe villages. Civic officials suggested that the de-linking was leading to unplanned growth and sought the support of elected representatives in preventing a Dhankawdi, Kalas and Vadgaonsheri-like situation where development outpaced amenities. "We are not against conversion of agricultural land for residential use. But one has to look at the intentions behind the motive. The civic body is preparing a DP for the old city which means an inclusive and comprehensive vision for the development of the city. By converting agriculture land in city area by bits and pieces we are just encouraging haphazard and unplanned development," said senior BJP corporator Anil Shirole. Shiv Sena leader in the PMC Sham Deshpande questioned the NCP's intentions. "The ruling party is not clean in its intentions when it comes to land issues. There are various players who have vested interests in land issues in Pune," said Deshpande.
However, the process of consensus building has started in the PMC. " A group of corporators, many in the realty business, wants the merger. Various townships are already coming up around Pune and once thousands of acres agriculture land is opened for construction, the realty market in Pune will witness the next boom," a senior civic official said.
"When the Mundhwa land was converted to residential purpose use, except the Shiv Sena, all those who opposed the proposal changed their minds on the floor of the house and supported the proposal. The BJP factions (Munde and Gadkari), which don't share the dais for party programmes, joined hands to approve the proposal. Eventually, all the political parties will support the merger proposal," said a corporator who is in the realty business.
The 20 villages were part of the original 38 merged with the PMC in 1997. However, the state had de-linked them in October 2001 following protests by the villagers over reservations on their farm lands in the draft development plan (DP). Subsequently, 15 villages were de-linked completely; five were partially separated wherein some parts of these villages remained with the civic body while the rest was with the gram panchayat. Though the civic body has 23 fringe villages under its limits, only 18 are included. The remaining five have been partially included. In March 2010, elected representatives pushed for the merger of the 20 villages in the PMC's limits claiming that the villagers now wanted the merger. The proposal will be tabled before the general body soon. If merged, the civic body's geographical limit will expand to 410 sq km from the current 243.84 sq km.
SHRINKING FARMLANDS
nnn According to the state government's Economic Survey for 2009-10, 42.43 % of its population of 9.68 crore resides in urban areas, boosting the demand for land for residential projects
nnn Of the state's 3.08 lakh sq km area, in 1960-61 about 1.78 lakh hectares of land was under agriculture. The figure has come down by 4,05,000 hectares (10,00,350 acres) to 1.74 lakh hectares, according to the 2009-10 survey
nnn The gross cropped area in the state has gone up by 38.32 lakh hectares (94,65,040 acres) because of increased irrigation facilities
nnn The gross cropped area in the state is 2,26,55,000 hectares, of which 40,37,000 hectares (17.8 per cent) is gross irrigated area and remaining is rain-fed
nnn In Pune district, townships are being constructed on about 60 to 70 km away from the city, and each of these special townships requires 100 acres of land
GROWTH STORY
lll In 1997, 36 villages were included in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits. As a result, the PMC limits increased from 146 sq km to 450.69 sq.km
lll However, in 2001, after a few villages were delinked, the PMC area was reduced to 243.96 sq.km. During the 180-year span from 1817 to 1997, urban areas in and around the city (including areas under adjoining municipal bodies) have grown from five sq km to 700 sq km
lll The city has especially expanded in post-Independence era. According to the Pune Municipal Corporation estimated statistics from 1901 to 2011, the city's urban population has grown from 1.64 lakh to about 33 lakh.
lll The state government's relaxation of restrictions on conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses has led to agricultural land in the fringes of the city like Hadapsar, Mundhwa and Kondhwa, Sinhagad Road and Wadgaon Dhayari becoming residential.
lll The government ordinance in 1994, which stated that permission for non-agricultural use of agricultural land is not required in areas where the Regional Town Planning Act, 1966 is in operation or a legally declared industrial zones exists or is finally accepted or proposed also boosted such growth.
lll Moreover, in November 1996, the government threw open hilltops, slopes and forest areas in the state for development as hill stations, tourist and holiday homes. This brought private players to the scene.
TIMES VIEW
Converting small pieces of agricultural land into residential results in haphazard development around the city. Dhankawadi is one such example. A fully functional regulatory authority like the PMRDA is necessary for governing the rapid growth that is taking place in the villages that are presently outside the municipal boundaries but which fall within the larger Pune metropolitan area. The authorities should press for town planning schemes in these villages and should crack down on illegal constructions coming up on farm lands there. Political leaders too need to support the authorities in such endeavours to ensure that villages with planned development come in the PMC's fold.
SLATED FOR MERGER Mhalunge, Sus, Bavdhan Budruk, Kirkatwadi, Khadakwasla, Nanded, Narhe, New Kopre, Uttamnagar, Kondhwe Dhavde, Manjri Budruk, Keshavnagar, Sadesatara Nali, Pisoli, Lohegaon.
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