123Pune.com

PUNE: Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s recent ruling restricting the grant of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for the Parvati hill plot to four per cent instead of the earlier 100 per cent has sent "green plot" owners in the city into a tizzy. This move opens the door to acquisition of 978.54 hectares of privately-owned hill land in Pune at a throwaway price.

The CM’s decision overrules the state advocate general’s opinion and surprises many, particularly since a writ petition on the quantum of TDR to be granted to green plot owners is pending before the Bombay HC.

The CM’s move, however, gives Pune’s environmentalists and urban planners hope. It paves the way for the greening of 1,647 hectares of hill land by way of bio diversity parks (BDP) in the 23 villages around Pune. These villages were included in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits in 1997.

Of the 1,647 hectares, 978 hectares are privately owned while the rest is owned by government bodies. The PMC will be required to pay compensation, monetary or in the form of TDR, when acquiring the privately owned plots.

However, since the quantum of compensation to be granted to private green plot owners was a point of debate and as the estimated cost of acquisition was pegged at over Rs 1,000 crore the state, the finance ministry had questioned the financial viability of the BDP proposal itself.

So much so that except for the Baner-Balewadi sector which has 89 hectares of hill land, the DP for the other 21 villages is still pending approval as the state has yet to ascertain the financial viability of the BDP proposals in these villages.

"The CM’s ruling in the Parvati case sets a precedence. The PMC will now be in a position to acquire 978 hectares of hill land at a negligible cost," Shiv Sena corporator Sham Deshpande said, while handing over the copy of the CM’s ruling to TOI.

Former Congress corporator Shiva Mantri along with former mayor Vandana Chavan and corporator Sham Mankar had called on the CM demanding cancellation of the 100 per cent TDR grant for the Parvati hill plot.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/Land_owners_in_a_tizzy_over_CM_o...