Pune’s Mhalunge town planning scheme to play ‘mentor’ for 46 upcoming towns near ring road project

Most villages around the city are set to undergo a facelift in the coming days as the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has proposed to lay out 46 more town planning (TP) schemes around the ring road project, for which work will start soon.

The schemes have been proposed to make the 128-km long ring road project self-sustainable with planned development alongside, said PMRDA officials. The new schemes will be built 500 metres from the proposed ring road. 

The metropolitan authority has already begun the planning for the scheme at Mhalunge near Hinjewadi IT park, with almost 90 per cent owners agreeing to land acquisition. While the land acquisition for Mhalunge is underway, the PMRDA has also begun planning six new town planning schemes in Hadapsar assembly constituency, where work on the ring road project is expected to begin soon. 

PMRDA chief executive officer and metropolitan commissioner Kiran Gitte said, “On the lines of Ahmedabad city, the PMRDA is planning to develop 46 town planning schemes around the ring road. The town planning schemes and the ring road will be developed simultaneously and are part of the same project. The schemes are part of the ring road project and it will help authorities acquire land for the project at minimal cost.” 

He said that seventy-eight town planning schemes were developed within ten years as part of the Ahmedabad ring road project.The unique scheme had helped the civic body acquire land free of cost while also benefiting the land owners. The schemes map out the way the acquired land is to be used and developed. It identifies areas for land use, including provisions to coordinate infrastructure and development.

The PMRDA has used the same model for the ring road project in Pune, Gitte said.

The metropolitan authority has already conducted multiple meetings with farmers and land owners at Handewadi to brief them about the scheme and its benefits. Farmers from Nimbalkarwadi, Yewalewadi, Pisoli, Vadachiwadi, Handewadi-Autadwadi and Holkarwadi were also invited for the meetings. It has also planned additional schemes at Vadki, Manjari, Wagholi and other areas. 

Town planner Ramchandra Gohad said that the scheme is the only solution for sustainable development in the area. “The beauty of the scheme is in the fact that infrastructure comes first and the development happens later. Pune had proposed nine such schemes earlier, but each of them were scrapped. It is good that the PMRDA is planning to go through with the schemes now. Plot owners and the authorities will benefit from the scheme. While land owners are given back a vastly improved property, authorities receive land free of cost for facilitating infrastructure,” Gohad said.

Gitte said that guardian minister Girish Bapat was also present at the meetings with land owners and that he appealed to the farmers to take part in the scheme, calling it a “win-win situation for all”. He also assured the land owners that the scheme won’t be executed without the necessary permissions from land owners.

According to officials, the PMRDA will return 50 per cent of the land acquired from owners and provide them with double the floor space index (FSI) as part of the Mhalunge town planning scheme. The scheme will be executed within the next two years. There are around 800 land owners holding around 719 acres in the area, which the planning authority wants to develop based on the Ahmedabad model.  

Each town planning scheme will cover 200 to 300 hectares in area. Fifty per cent of the land along the ring road will be acquired for the ring road project and the ownership of the remaining 50 per cent will be with the original owners. The PMRDA will change the reservations on the land and the owners will also get additional FSI on the remaining land, he said. 

Gitte said that if the town planning scheme is executed well, the ring road project will be self-sustaining and that additional funds will not be required for land acquisition. The PMRDA will also get ten to fifteen per cent more land, which will help create additional facilities in the respective areas.