Says State Should Take Decision On DP And Release Locked-In Land
Pune: With a major part of land locked-in by the Development Plan (DP) and with slums eating into whatever little is available, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, Pune chapter (Credai Pune) is fearing a rise in residential property prices. The Development Plan still awaits an approval from the state government.
Moreover, the question of land scarcity was again in focus, following Wednesday’s report in the TOI about land scarcity and slum rehabilitation schemes, which evoked reactions from builders, developers, activists, administration and politicians.
Credai Pune president Satish Magar said, “Actually, 40 per cent of the price of a house is the cost of the land it is built on. If land remains scarce, we are again moving towards a price rise in real estate. The government should immediately approve the DP for the 23 merged villages to unlock land for development. Also, there are many requests for the change of intention (that is to convert agriculture land into residential purpose) pending with the government. There are large agriculture lands in areas like Lohegaon and Mundhwa and the request for change in intentions are pending for eight to 10 years. Once the state approves the change in intention, these patches will be open for development. However, things are not moving and the state government should be held accountable.”
Magar said the state has to be blamed if prices of houses rocket. “The immediate sanction of the DP, approval of change of intention plans and infrastructure development are three steps needed to be taken to control possible price-hike in housing.”
Credai Pune vice-president Rohit Gera said, “Delay in the approval of the DP is a major cause for concern, since it is preventing further development of the city. We have repeatedly requested the government to take a decision regarding the DP without further delay.” He said that during recession, the construction industry went through a rough patch. The demand for housing had dropped, since people could not afford the prices and interest rates. “We will reach the same situation if things fail to move.”
Gera further said, “The controversy regarding Bio-Diversity Parks (BDPs) should be resolved by the state. By delaying the decision on the DP, the state is holding back development of Pune.”
Pratima Joshi of Shelter Associates organisation, which has done extensive research on slums, said, “Land is scarce in Pune. Also, due to this, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has admitted to holding back many slum rehabilitation schemes under the Basic Services for the Urban Poor scheme (BSUP) supported by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The PMC should give a serious thought to comprehensive planning and implementation of slum rehabilitation plans, since, otherwise, land availability will continue to shrink in the city.”
Urban Development principal secretary T C Benjamin said that in an effort to expedite the process of finalising the DP for the 23 villages merged into the limits of the PMC, the state government has proposed a ‘broad understanding’ on the controversial issues of BDPs and waterscarcity zones. The state wants a speedy implementation of the DP for these 23 villages. Benjamin said a first round of discussion between district guardian minister Ajit Pawar and chief minister Ashok Chavan has al ready been held and another round of discussions are likely this month.
Credai Pune’s Demands
t State government should approve the DP immediately
t Quick decisions needed on proposals to ‘change the intention’
t Need for basic infrastructure development
The DP Story So Far…
t In 1997, 23 fringe villages were merged into the PMC limits. The civic body started work on the development plan (DP) for its newly extended municipal limits
t A planning committee was set up to finalise the DP for the fringe villages
t After going through a number of phases in December 2004, the planning committee submitted the final draft of the DP to the civic body which included a ‘critical proposal’ (to ban construction on hills and along river banks)
t In 2005, the PMC approved the DP
t The main recommendation was that 1,600 hectare of land in these fringe villages should be reserved for BDPs. Also, 60-metre strips on each side of a river — described as the flood line or the maximum limit of the river’s carriageway — had been identified as a ‘no development area’
t The move was mainly aimed at putting an end to all sorts of constructions on hills, disallowing even farm houses
t The DP waits for the approval of the state government
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