New Mahabaleshwar Project: MSRDC receives approval for inclusion of 294 more villages

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has received approval from the state government for inclusion of additional 294 villages in New Mahabaleshwar Project implemented in Satara district. The government resolution (GR) issued on March 27 cited eight conditions to develop the project spread across protected area or eco sensitive zones.

New Mahabaleshwar project is an ambitious hill station development plan to boost tourism, generate jobs and revenue for local community.

While the initial draft development plan (DP) published by MSRDC covered 235 villages, demand from the other villages led the corporation to include 294 additional villages from Satara, Javali and Patan tehsils in the fresh proposal submitted in February. Considering the eco sensitive zone, tiger project and protected forest areas, the state government instructed MSRDC to follow eight conditions.

As per the GR, MSRDC has to follow the guidelines of ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MOEFCC) and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for construction in the green belts.

The addition of new villages takes the total count to 529 covering 2,097sq km spread across four hilly tehsils of Satara district.

MSRDC completed the public hearing for its first DDP recently.

“We have received responses and suggestions from villagers. We will incorporate recommendations in our draft and submit it to the state government by the end of May for approval,” said Jitendra Bhopale, director, town planning, MSRDC.