Party says civic body can't deny people their right to give suggestion and raise objections to the draft; outfit to finalise the nature of agitation soon
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has declared that it will stage an agitation to highlight PMC’s failure in making available the copies of newly drafted Development Plan (DP) to the citizens.
Anil Shidore, general secretary, MNS (Pune), said, “According to Section 23/2 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act 1966, every citizen has the right to give suggestion and raise objections to the draft. It is sad to know that the new DP hasn’t been made available to the common man to study.”
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According to Shidore, the party is following a constructive approach on the issue. “While the nature of agitation will be finalised soon, we only want those responsible to make the draft public. They can release it on the Internet provide hardcopies at public places for the people to study and know what’s happening.”
Likewise, Ujjwal Keskar, former corporator and founder of Pune Vikas Aghadi, said, “The member manage to get a copy of the DP by hook or crook, but it’s the citizens who are deprived of it. The PMC has made the DP for the benefit of the people, and that the common man should know the nature of the draft.”
Yashwant Khaire, (retired) deputy director of Town Planning Department, said, “As per Section 26/1 of the MRTP Act, either the planning authority or the civic body should publish the DP and make it available for public representatives and citizen by charging an appropriate price. However, the bureaucracy isn’t following it and is still keeping things under wraps.”u00a0
DP Timeline
January 5, 1987: State govt approves the earlier DP for the old city limits.
November 9, 1992: Govt approves development plan of adjourning Pashan and Sutarwadi areas from Pune city.
February 13, 1997: 38 fringe villages added into the PMC limits.
November 11, 2001: Out of the 38 villages that were added to the PMC limits, 15 were omitted fully, while five were partially excluded from the city. As per the new DP draft, the present area that comes under PMC is 243.84 sq km
October 11, 2012: State Urban Development Department issued notification of beginning the procedure of merging another 28 fringe villages to the PMC limits.