Mulshi hill station plan hits water wall

The notification issued on May 19 for Maharashtra Valley View Pvt Ltd seeks ‘no objection certificate” from the irrigation department as part of the conditions for developing the hill station project and the department is firm on not giving the NOC to proposed hill stations in the district.

Superintendenting engineer (Pune irrigation circle) Avinash Surve said the proposed hill station falls in the catchment area of Mulshi dam. Besides,the ownership of the dam being with the Tata Power Company,the NOC needs to be taken from it.

“We will not be giving the NOC to either the proposed Maharashtra Valley View Hill Station or to the proposed Acqualand Hill station project in the same area. From last year,it was decided that any sanctions for water supply should be given by the State Cabinet and we have forwarded the same to the state government,” said Surve.

He added that with Pune district facing a serious water crisis in terms of supply,proper assessment should be made before issuing sanctions. The year is yet to see good rainfall,following a late onset after the southwest monsoon arrived on the Kerala mainland coast on June 5.

As per the state government’s notification issued on May 19,“lands out of revenue villages namely Saltar,Mazgaon,Barpe Bu,Bhamburde,Ekole,Ghutke,Adgaon in Mulshi taluka shown in pink in the plan bearing,are included in afforestation zone and agriculture/no development zone as per the proposals of the said regional plan appear to be suitable for being developed as hill station in terms of the said regulation.” “We have received the notification and also the rules and clearances are awaited from the irrigation and environment departments,” said deputy director (town planning) Avinash Patil.

There are two other hill station projects proposed in the Mulshi taluka by Aqualand India and Satind Infrastructure. While Aqualand had asked for land in Khurd and Warad villages in Mulshi,Satind had sought land near Teilbela,Mazgaon and Saltar villages. Both proposals have been considered favourably by the town planning department in Pune.

However,former town planner Sadhana Naik says as there is no government authority on the lines of MMRDA working for these areas,it is better to have systematic development with the help of private firms instead of haphazard development. As many as 30 villages in Pune district – in Maval,Mulshi and Velhe belts – are part of the hill station development plan.

Suniti S R,national convener,National Alliance of People Movement (NAPM) that is fighting against Lavasa Corporation,alleged the builder-businessmen-politician lobby was resulting in deterioration of the environment at Sahyadri Hills and added they have been opposing such hill stations in the area. The NAPM maintains that such projects are using up the existing water supply and has been continuing their agitations.