Crackdown on illegal structures in suburbs

Principal Secretary T C Benjamin who was in Pune to address the meeting said with the DC rules to be implemented in these areas,the collectorate should conduct a drive to assess the number of constructions where permissions were sought only from the village panchayat and not from the district collectorate.

“With the fringe areas directly coming under the district collector,he should be able to take action against persons who erected the structures without his permission,” Benjamin said.

“No illegal construction will be spared,” he said.

A time frame has been set by the department to ready the road network in these areas. While readying the road network with the existing land use,a deadline has been set till December end,to be undertaken by a private contractor while a proper proposal of the road network for these areas have to be submitted by February. “Unless there is a proper road network,these areas will suffer,” said Benjamin.

Benjamin said implementation of the DC rules in the fringe areas will see a uniform system and planned development which is essential as cities are growing outwards. Deputy director town planning Sadhana Naik said there have been several proposals and this detailed planning will help in the implementation of the notification.

Though development regulations for the areas within municipal limits have been modified from time to time,the DC rules for areas within the Pune region were not modified in respect of height of the building and parking provisions. Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India president Satish Magar said the builders’ lobby welcomed the drive.