Not all villages for inclusion in PMC limits

After the Government Notification issued on October 21 2012 by the Urban Development Department headed by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for merging of 28 fringe villages into Pune Municipal Corporation PMC limits MiD DAY kicks off a fivepart series to follow closely on the reactions and issues surfacing as a result of the decision As per the notification residents of these villages can make suggestions and also raise objections till the end of November Poles apart Newly elected woman sarpanch Neelesha Dudhale of Bavdhan Khurd village feels that the merger into PMC limits will result in loss of the arearsquos identity u00a0PicZang Aier A MiD DAY survey revealed that over 50 per cent of the sarpanches of these villages and the respective executive members of local bodies are against the merger while the remaining welcome the decision The objective of this exercise is to bring to the fore the current scenario of these villages in way of development amenities and infrastructure before the merger happens and also what these villages expect to gain from the move Selfsufficient The six lakh litre capacity water tank at Bavdhan village which was built to avoid purchasing water from the PMC at the cost of around Rs 4 lakh each month inset newly elected sarpanch of Bhavdhan Neelasha Dudhale and former sarpanch Vaishali Kamble right PicsZang Aier The merger of Bavdhan Khurd near Chandni Chowk area on Paud Road into the PMC limits seems to be welcomed by some while others are not in favour of the plan u00a0While newly elected woman sarpanch Neelesha Dudhale is not for the merger former woman sarpanch Vaishali Kamble is in favour of its inclusion as according to her it will guarantee basic civic amenities including water supply proper road infrastructure among other muchneeded development The former sarpanch also believes that it will put a stop to illegal constructions once the civic body gets charge of the villageu00a0 ldquoWe had passed the resolution to get our village merged into PMC limits in February 2012 We do not have wideenough roads for fire brigade trucks to get to many spots when the need arises The village requires around 15 lakh litres of drinking water per day and we purchase water from the PMC each month at the cost of around Rs 4 lakh We had constructed a water tank with capacity of 6 lakh litres on a hill and use the stored water judiciously Once the merger happens then the cost will reduce drasticallyrdquo Kamble said She also feels that the merger will certainly ensure the village flourishes as frequent mass transport services will then be possible ldquoRampant construction of illegal buildings and structures by builders in the village will be checked At present the grampanchayat is unable to put an end to these illegal activitiesrdquo Kamble said u00a0Dudhale was elected sarpanch on October 24 and she believes that the merger will only bring about more of a drawback than progressu00a0 ldquoWe had seen how the PMC has ignored Bavdhan Khurd our twin village which was included the corporation limits The village does not even have public toilets or a crematorium The people have elected us and the merger will only hamper development of the village We donrsquot need anything from the PMC because we are selfsufficient and have managed road development education and waste managementrdquo Meanwhile Kiran Dagade deputy sarpanch was not in favour with the plan as he believed that agriculture would suffer ldquoWe had met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Rural Development Minister Harshavardhan Patil asking to be excluded from the list of 28 villages that are to be merged The farmers in our village are worried that farmlands will be reduced after townplanning reservations comes into existence We will move the court if our demands are ignoredrdquo Dagade said More against than forResidents of Mahalunge and Sus two villages in Mulshi taluka are also not in favour of the merger Amol Chandere sarpanch from Sus and Malan Padale woman sarpanch from Mahalunge village have strongly criticised the government for taking the decision Chandere said ldquoThe government notification was issued without informing us early enough so that the grampanchayat elections could have been prevented Merging into Pune will put an end to our identity and we are fighting for our own peoplersquos rights Officially we are opposing the decision by conducting gramsabha village meetingrdquo Padale said that the decision was taken too early and that the government should have given them time to think it over u00a0ldquoWe had taken charge as sarpanches three months ago and need to keep the promises we made to the villagers I donrsquot mind if the decision for merger is taken after three years We donrsquot want villagers to pay exorbitant taxes to the PMC as compared to what they pay presentlyrdquou00a0 Factsheet Bavdhan Budruk Population 21000 plus Area 59798 hectares New housing societies 20 Land cost Rs 7 to 8 lakh per guntha Construction cost Rs 3500 to 4000 per sft Sus Population 12000 plus Area 47634 hectares New Housing Societies 19 Land cost Rs 14 lakh per guntha Construction cost Rs 3000 per sft Mahalunge Population 12000 Area 43678 hectares New housing societies 9 Land cost Rs 10 to 12 lakh Construction cost 2500 to 2800 per sft u00a0