2 DP panel members to ‘skip’ hearings

The state government, after much deliberation over who would be part of the committee, announced in February the appointment of town planning director A R Patharkar, architect Akhtar Chavan, scientist Sachin Punekar and architect Sarang Yadwadkar, along with PMC representatives Abhay Chhajed, Chetan Tupe and Bapu Karne. However, the civic administration could not start the hearing due to the Lok Sabha elections and now it has chalked out a plan to conduct a hearing on the 87,000 suggestions and objections for 50 days.

In a communication to municipal commissioner Vikas Deshmukh, Yadwadkar and Punekar  claimed the civic administration was hushing up the process of conducting the public hearing. “The civic administration has failed to comply with the experts’ demand of furnishing all necessary documents of the draft DP. They have conveyed that it would be impossible for them to conduct a hearing with the incomplete information,” said corporator Prashant Badhe and former corporators Ujjwal Keskar and Suhas Kulkarni in a press conference.

They said experts had sought various documents to the civic administration to prepare for the public hearing. “They had also asked for a presentation on the draft DP to understand the various targets to be achieved in the DP. However, the civic administration has not submitted a lot of important documents and not given a presentation. The experts have conveyed that it would be improper for them to participate
in public hearings in such a situation as it would not ensure justice to citizens,” Keskar said.

The DP will give directions for the development of the city for the next 20 years, he said, adding that there was no reason to be in a hurry to finalise it.

The experts admitted about their communication with the municipal commissioner over their concern on the way the hearings were being planned, but refused to speak in detail.

The civic administration claimed that it had provided all required documents to the committee members and that the hearing day was finalised with their consultation. “The hearings are planned for 50 days and will be held six days a week from 9 am to 7 pm with priority to individuals from 9 am to 5 pm and groups from 5 pm to 7 pm,” PMC city engineer Prashant Waghmare said, adding they would be carried out in six phases, one sector in each phase.

The civic administration has communicated to the citizens through the postal service about the timings for the hearing in accordance with a set time table to ensure there is not too much crowd at a time. The hearing will take place in Wadke hall in the civic headquarters.

The PMC general body had approved the draft DP for the old part of the city covering 147.85 sq km in January last year and published it in March 2013 for the public. A total of 87,000 suggestions and objections were filed by citizens as elected representatives had allegedly made a lot of modifications in the draft DP. There are 921 reservations for civic amenities to meet the public demand. It will be applicable from 2007 to 2027.