Discussion on Pune DP postponed until Jan

Corporators refuse to hold debate till they get Marathi copy

Discussion on Pune DP postponed until Jan

Standing firm on their demand for a Marathi copy of the new Development Plan (DP), elected members from all parties refused to discuss the all-important DP in the General Body meeting of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) yesterday.

The debate on the new DP was postponed till January 7 next year after a vote to decide the new date for discussion. Municipal Secretary Sunil Parkhi conducted the voting, which was done by a show of hands, and declared 77 were in favour of January 7 whereas only one, Congress corporator Aba Bagul, stood for January 11 as the date for the debate.

The written suggestion on DP discussion was made by Nationalist Congress Party corporator Subhash Jagtap. Earlier, there was a hue and cry over the demand for DP in Marathi the civic house. Vasant More, Bala Shendge and Roopali Patil of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, and Vikas Mathkari and Medha Kulkarni of the Bharatiya Janata Party also demanded the soft copy of the DP should also be in Marathi.

“We need at least three weeks to study the Marathi DP,” Mathkari said. In reply, Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Pathak assured all that the work of doing an exact Marathi translation of the English version of the new DP was in progress. “We can hand it over to the elected members next week,” he said.

Citizens reacted angrily to the postponing of the debate on the new Development Plan. Social activist Digvijay Deshpande, a resident of Aundh, said: “Delaying the debate by 20 days is a criminal waste of time. The basic, preliminary discussions should have started on the stipulated day and time. The elected representatives don’t value time.”

Veena Kulkarni from Kothrud said: “Unavailability of Marathi DP is just an excuse for doing nothing when the citizens are eager to know the views of corporators from various political parties in the PMC house.”

Vijay Sable, a resident of Sinhagad Road, said: “There is no need to wait for getting the Marathi version of the new DP. Each and every elected member must have known the basic background and executive summary of the DP. Delaying the discussion is delaying the enforcement of the DP, which is not expected of any corporator.” u00a0

Taljai victims’ next of kin to get Rs 20L
The General Body meeting yesterday approved the disbursement of Rs 20 lakh to the families of the 12 persons killed in the collapse of a four-storey building at Taljai hills three months ago. “The aid should have been approved much earlier and the PMC should be more vigilant about such rampant illegal structures coming up, where lives of many innocent people are in danger,” NCP corporator Shivlal Bhosale said.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels