Private hill city only one to get Special Planning Authority status in state; activists allege many ministers involved
Private hill city only one to get Special Planning Authority status in state; activists allege many ministers involved
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Under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act 40 (1), (B), Lavasa Corporation got the status of Special Planning Authority (SPA) in 2008 and became the virtual ruler of the private hill city. This legal provision gave Lavasa Corporation special permission to itself decide and approve what work it can do.
Assistant Director (Town Planning), Pune Branch, Prakash Bongale told MiD DAY that the status accorded to Lavasa was unique in the state.
"Lavasa is the first SPA in Maharashtra and nobody has got this approval till date, not even Aamby Valley at Maval, which had applied in 1997, a year after the rules for Private Hill Station were finalised," he said.
The MRTP Act gave a free hand to Lavasa to undertake development and even purchase land.
"In the beginning, Lavasa got 18 villages with the total area standing at 664 hectares. Now we don't know how much new land it purchased under the SPA provision, and nobody has conveyed to us any updated information so far," Bongale said.
Prof Vijay Paranjpe, president, Gomukh, an NGO that works for the protection of environment, expressed his surprise over Lavasa being the only SPA in the state. He said that the special status might have been gained using political influence.
"It is also true that an SPA has to follow certain guidelines. The government also has the responsibility to check things if anything goes wrong," he said. "Lavasa is a mega-project and it should get analysed rationally."
Maruti Bhapkar, an RTI activist and a independent PCMC corporator, alleged that Lavasa was like a parallel government and many ministers in the ministry were indirectly involved in the project.
"It is no surprise that Lavasa got the SPA sanction. It is nothing but political influence," he said. "It is also surprising how Sharad Pawar safeguards Lavasa when a notice is issued by the Environmental Ministry."
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