Journalism of Courage
As PMC,PCMC and PCNTDA take on demolition drives in their respective jurisdictions,activists doubt the success of the drive,saying in no time these structures will be reconstructed just as it had happened in the past
1,200 illegal constructions on PMC radar
During the ongoing demolition drive,the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has taken action against 700 illegal constructions out of 1,200 that were served notices.
As per procedure,owners of illegal structures are served notices by the building department of PMC,asking to take corrective action,else the structure would be demolished. An official said,PMC Commissioner Mahesh Pathak had given directions to clear the backlog of notices that were served to owners of illegal structures,but no deterrent action was taken against them for years.
The demolition on Tuesday included 12,000 sq feet of ongoing construction work in Bibwewadi. Of these 12,000 sq feet,a single under-construction structure measuring 8,000 sq feet was demolished along with 4,000 sq feet of tin sheds, said PMC structural engineer Rajendra Khairnar,who was present during the demolition drive. He added the constructions were illegal as they were on the hill tops and hill slopes.
We had prioritised 1,200 such structures in the city on the basis of the nature of encroachment and begun the demolition from July 9. Top priority is given to illegal constructions in ecologically sensitive areas like river-beds,hilltops and so on, said Vivek Kharwadkar,additional city engineer,PMC. He added that the drive will ensure that due and necessary action is taken against all illegal constructions that were served notices years ago.
Only those structures are demolished that are constructed on a larger plot area than what was sanctioned by the civic body,that are constructed without PMC permission,that are constructed on ecologically sensitive areas like hilltops,hill slopes,river bed etc and those that exceed the prescribed FSI. Most of the constructions that have been razed were constructed without PMC permission,while the others were in ecologically sensitive areas, said Ramesh Shelar,head of PMCs anti-encroachment department.
