Mahabaleshwar to get a sibling hill station in a month, move to ease congestion
MSRDC, which has been appointed as the regional planning authority for new Mahabaleshwar, said the main intention was to decongest Mahabaleshwar
Mumbai: The state government is close to drawing up a regional plan for New Mahabaleshwar, a new hill station near Mahabaleshwar in Satara district. The plan, encompassing 235 villages and a portion of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, will be made public in a month’s time, said officials.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which has been appointed as the regional planning authority for new Mahabaleshwar, said the main intention was to decongest Mahabaleshwar.
“We have been given the mandate and our town planning department is drawing up a comprehensive plan,” MSRDC managing director Anil Gaikwad told Hindustan Times.
Initially, only 58 villages were included within the scope of the plan, said MSRDC’s chief planner Jitendra Bhopale. “But now, we have 235 villages under the plan and have already held four meetings with various stakeholders. We have also conducted surveys using drones, in addition to a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) survey,” he said.
The notified area includes parts of Jawali, Patan and Satara tehsils. Roads in the area will be nine metres wide and there will be reservations for various amenities in the development plan. “The DP will be made public in a month,” said Bhopale.
The plan to develop a new hill station near Mahabaleshwar was first mooted by Vikramsinh Patankar when he was the PWD minister in the state government (1999-2004), but there was little progress. The idea was revived recently as chief minister Eknath Shinde hails from Satara and wants improvement in his village, Dare.
“Nearly 60% of the notified area of new Mahabaleshwar comprises forests including the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve. But we will neither disturb the forests, nor touch the green belt. Instead, we will promote sustainable development and ecological tourism,” said Bhopale. The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation has already launched boating and scuba diving facilities in the Munavale area, he added.
Environmental groups and activists, however, said they would oppose the plan as it would lead to destruction of forest cover and wildlife.
“We have a huge land bank and there is no need to touch forest land – especially when we need to have 33% land under forest cover, compared with Maharashtra’s %,” said D Stalin from the non-profit Vanshakti. “Instead of protecting the forests and improving forest cover, the government is finding new excuses to ravage existing ones.”
The forest department, which has not been consulted, is also likely to oppose the inclusion of forested areas in the plan.
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