Development plan delayed further

Already five years behind schedule, the Development Plan (DP) made for the year 2007-2027 is delayed again, as the civic body at it's General Body (GB) meeting tried to rectify its earlier mistake by omitting illogical, irrelevant and contradictory supplementary suggestions before approving it yesterday after a four-hour long heated debate.

Hard at (re)work: The General Body meeting in progress

The NCP party with the support of the Congress secured 71 votes in favour against the MNS, BJP and Shiv Sena that got 58 votes to remove supplementary suggestions.

As a result, some BJP party workers are contemplating approaching the court against the decision. A resolution made by Baburao Chandere and RPI leader Dr Siddharth Dhende stated that suggestions don't have authorised demarcation, approved layout and contradictory supplementary suggestions which should be omitted from the list of 300. The PMC had earlier approved the DP on January 1, 2013.

Dhanjay Jadhav, BJP corporator, also said that his party would go to court to put a stay over its implementation. The idea to conduct a separate GB was taken by PMC Mayor Vaishali Bankar after a letter was sent by NCP members Shivlal Bhosale and Usha Kalamkar on February 25.

Prashant Waghmare, city engineer, PMC, said, "We are studying the suggestions and compiling layouts of all surveys. The decision will be taken in a week. We have asked for suggestions from states' urban development department."

PMC Commissioner Mahesh Pathak said that revaluation for supplementary decisions was taken by GB and not PMC administration. "Decision about re-evaluation of DP plan can be made and we have got official permission under the legal provision," he said.

Senior Congress member Aba Bagul said, "This DP is not made by the house, but by civic administration wherein all reservations have been shown together, including Metro, PMPML bus stops, gardens and residential area. The DP doesn't have any legal standing as per the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act provisions."

Former corporators and general secretary of Pune Janhit Aghadi, Ujjwal Keskar sarcastically congratulated Chandere for showing ‘wider perspective of citizens'. She said, "This DP lacks Maharashtra Regional Township Plan Act provisions. The PMC Commissioner can't enforce the DP legally.

" Vanita Vagaskar, MNS corporator, said, "We have lost a good chance and made a mockery of the creation of the city's DP by taking a vote on the same issues for the second time. Citizens will never forgive us." Ashok Harnawal, Shiv Sena group leader, said, "I feel ashamed that we are only discussing and making supplementary suggestions without thinking of its future ramifications."

PMC chief sneaks peek at Test score
During the general body meeting, some news channels caught the PMC Commissioner Mahesh Pathak catching a glimpse of the Ind v/s Australia cricket scores on his mobile phone. "I took a quick look at scores at the end of the meeting. I had full attention during the proceedings," said Pathak.u00a0