State committee to launch drone survey to identify BDP encroachments

Even after two decades, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has failed to acquire any of the 976 hectares of land reserved for the Biodiversity Park (BDP) across 23 merged villages, except for a portion used for the Chandni Chowk flyover.

A state government-appointed committee on Friday decided to carry out a drone survey to get a clear picture of encroachments on BDP areas.

The reserved BDP land includes 124.45 hectares of government and 853.09 hectares of privately owned land.

The BDP was planned to protect Pune’s hilltops and slopes — often called the city’s “lungs” — but remains mostly a plan on paper. Illegal constructions and encroachments have continued to spread, with officials admitting that nearly 10% of the reserved land is already encroached upon.

The state has appointed a committee, led by former IAS officer Ramanath Jha, to draft new development control regulations for these areas. The committee recently decided to conduct a drone survey to identify encroachments and assess the current situation.

“One of the decisions taken at Friday’s meeting was to carry out a drone survey of BDP areas to figure out the extent of encroachments,” said a senior official from the PMC’s building permission and development department requesting anonymity.

According to PMC records, major anti-encroachment drives were carried out in 2000 and again in 2021. In 2020, about 16,000 square feet of illegal structures were demolished.

In March 2021, the PMC issued around 200 notices for illegal constructions and cleared approximately 1.34 lakh square feet of encroachments, including sheds and RCC structures.

The action was taken in Katraj (new and old limits), Ambegaon Budruk and Khurd, Yewalewadi, Dhayari, Hingne Khurd, Vadgaon Budruk and Khurd, Baner, Balewadi, Bavdhan, Kothrud, Warje, Bibwewadi, Kondhwa Khurd, Hadapsar (old limit), Wanowrie, and Parvati.

The idea of a Biodiversity Park was first proposed in 1997 when 23 villages were merged into PMC limits. The 2002 draft Development Plan (DP) suggested protecting the hills under the BDP reservation. After political debates — with Congress and Shiv Sena supporting a fully green plan, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and NCP favouring limited construction — the reservation was finally approved in 2005.

However, bureaucratic delays pushed the government’s formal approval of the BDP policy to 2015, with a compensation model introduced through Transfer of Development Rights (TDR). Landowners, however, rejected the TDR model, citing poor market rates and demanding cash compensation instead.

PMC’s slow progress and shortage of manpower allowed encroachments to thrive. Landowners, unable to legally develop or sell land due to restrictions, informally sold plots, leading to unauthorized constructions that continue despite periodic action.

Civic activist Sudhir Kaka Kulkarni raised concerns over earlier flawed surveys, which had mistakenly placed BDP reservations on already developed residential areas, creating disputes.

“The survey will help identify encroachments, but the committee’s decision afterwards is crucial. There is a risk that some landowners may be favoured,” Kulkarni said.

He pointed out that two separate surveys — one by C-DAC and another by Monarch Surveyors and Engineering Consultants — had been conducted before including BDP reservations in the development plan. “Which survey the committee considers as the baseline will also be critical,” he added.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, PMC recorded a spike in encroachments on BDP land. After the lockdown, the building permission department cleared over 1 lakh square feet of illegal structures.

Despite the action, the challenge persists largely because of dissatisfaction among landowners with TDR compensation, leading many to sell small plots informally.