Oppn leader alleges graft in land deal in Wakad; PCMC, builder say no rules violated

Speaking to this paper, builder Aaditya Javadekar, who owns the 5-acre plot of land in Wakad, denied there was any violation of rules. “My family owns the reserved plot of land in Wakad. The land became reserved in development plan 25 years back. Today, if the PCMC has to acquire the land, it has to pay compensation to my family which could be between Rs 50-100 crore. However, as per the provision of the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations, the owner of the plot can develop the plot of land and hand it over to the civic body. The civic body does not have to pay a single paisa to the owner of the plot. The plot owner gets TDR which he can use it for his building projects or can sell it to other builders.”

Javadekar said of the 5-acre land, on two and half acre, he will be building a PMPML terminal for PCMC and a 21-floor building, which the civic body wants to convert into an IT park and give the space on rent. “By giving the space on rent, PCMC will be earning in crores. This means, without spending anything PCMC will be gaining every year,” he said. Javadekar said he will be using the TDR in his other building projects. Javadekar heads the Infinity Developer Pvt Ltd which will be constructing the building.

A BJP leader, however, alleged that the builder will be constructing the entire project for Rs 598 crore and would be getting TDR worth Rs 2,500 crore. Terming the allegation as baseless, Javadekar said, “I would be spending Rs 567 crore on building the entire project on the two and half acre land. The remaining land of two-and half acre will be returned to me by the PCMC. There is no truth in the allegations that I would benefit by Rs 2,500 crore. I will benefit like what other reserved plot owners do….It’s a project which will benefit PCMC all the way. Most importantly, no rules are being bent. Everything is being done as the provisions of the UNDCPR.”

The PCMC administration also strongly denied that the deal was in favour of the concerned builder and that there was no violation of the rule. The PCMC said the project is being done under the provision of ”accommodation reservation” under UNDCPR  which came into effect in 2020.

”The project is being implemented under UNDCPR. There is a provision called accommodation reservation under which a private party can develop his reserve plot of land and hand it over to us. In turn, the private party gets amenity TDR. There is absolutely nothing wrong in this deal. It is a win-win situation for PCMC. We will not be spending anything on the project but we will be getting a truck terminal and a bus depot to accommodate 50 buses and a 21 floor building which can be used as IT Park and will earns us Rs 5 crore monthly rent,” Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Singh told this paper today.