Printing error in map slows down development along Mumbai-Pune expressway

The first exercise to carve out a Development Plan (DP) of 71 villages along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway is stuck due to a “printing error”.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is preparing the DP for the region after it was appointed the special planning authority (SPA) by the state government in March 2016.

The error in the printing of maps has resulted in locals and villagers from the affected villages visiting the MSRDC offices in Mahape to get a copy of the DP and subsequently register their suggestions and objections to the plan.

The MSRDC invited suggestions and objections from the locals on November 25, but the locals still do not have access to the plan.

The one-month deadline to submit the suggestion and objections ends on December 24.

Radheshyam Mopalwar, vice-chairman and managing director, MSRDC, said, “There was an error in the printing of maps, it is being rectified. The DP will be out soon for the public. Also, an extension will be given to the public and the due process will be followed.”

An MSRDC official added, “We see many locals from the area coming to the office to ask for a copy of the DP, but we are unable to provide them.”

MSRDC has been appointed as SPA for areas two kilometre south-west from the Expressway and Mumbai-Pune old highway (NH-4).

The DP of the villages along the 94-km Expressway is being prepared to understand the existing land use, and to understand the potential of land parcels on the Expressway.

MSRDC, which is executing mega-infrastructure projects approximately worth ₹70,000 crore, will use the land parcels to raise funds or use the land bank as a security against loans for the projects.

In turn, the locals will get planned development, better amenities, and so on.

Of the 71 villages, 67 are in the Khalapur tehsil and rest four are in Panvel taluka.