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Journalism of Courage
Try as she might, Asha Rajput cannot forget the night of July 27. Fast asleep in her ground-floor flat at Ashiana Utsav, a senior living space in Lavasa, a private hill station located around two hours from Pune, Asha says a “strange feeling” woke her up.
Before the horror-struck senior had fully registered the water inside her bedroom, there was a loud crash from the adjoining bathroom. “A portion of the hill behind the three-floor building had come down. A huge tree wedged horizontally between the embankment and the building came down with the mud. The force of the landslide broke my bathroom’s glass window, filling it up with mud and water,” says Asha, recalling that she panicked and pressed the alarm bell to call for help.
The staff responded to her cries, and even cleaned up the mud and barricaded the broken window. But Asha has been sleeping in her drawing room since then. Despite months since the incident, her flat is still in a state of disarray — the antique furniture has been being “arranged” to keep it out of harm’s way, she says. “A full night’s sleep has become impossible for me. I shifted here seven years ago, but this is the first time I felt unsafe,” says Asha, who owns houses in Jaipur and Chandigarh.
When Pune was battered by torrential rains in the last week of July, Lavasa, located in the hills of Mulshi taluka in Pune district, failed to escape nature’s wrath. A portion of a hill came sliding down on Lavasa’s Hill Road, trapping two people, who were later declared dead. Besides this, numerous areas of the hill station have witnessed minor landslides. On July 25, the Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) automatic weather station had noted 453.5 mm of rainfall, the highest since the station became operational in 2022. The area usually receives over 100 mm rainfall in June and July.
Today, the once-thriving tourist hotspot has been declared out of bounds for visitors without confirmed bookings at one of its three hotels or non-residents. The rule is enforced strictly by the security at the hill station’s entrance ever since Lavasa, among other spots, was earmarked by the Pune District Collector for a geological safety survey by the Geological Survey of India (GIS) to assess its risk element.
To add to Lavasa’s woes, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) recently rejected an application by Darwin Platform Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL), seeking assistance in acquiring the controversial project. DPIL had made a winning bid for the cash-strapped consortium in 2023.
From a world class hill station to a struggling entity
While the recent landslides have brought Lavasa into the limelight again, the downhill journey of this erstwhile sojourn of the rich and the famous started quite some years ago. In 1996, the Maharashtra government issued a hill station policy with the aim to develop hill stations as tourist destinations. As per the policy, only 30 per cent of the land to be developed was to have construction, while the rest was to be left free. Environmental clearances were a must and many stringent rules were framed around them.
Some time in the early 2000s, the Maharashtra government modified its hill station policy to allow for construction of private hill stations. Lavasa, was conceived by construction magnate Ajit Gulabchand, whose company, Hindustan Construction Company, was a majority shareholder in the Lavasa Corporation. The idea to develop a hill station in the remote valley of Mulshi was inspired by European cities, which share similar geography. After the hill station policy, which allowed private players to develop such towns, was approved, Lavasa was the first such city to be granted permission and be developed. NCP (SP) national chief Sharad Pawar had once talked about development of 23 such cities in Maharashtra to push tourism and infrastructure. However, the policy did not find any other takers.
The policy literally cleared the way for Lavasa, with thousands of people reportedly displaced from multiple villages. Branded as India’s ‘first planned private hill station’, Lavasa was nearly entirely privately managed. Instead of state officials, it was run like a corporate by a city manager, who was appointed by a board of private individuals. Save for the post office and the police, Lavasa was really as private as advertised.
However, it suffered a dizzying reversal of fortunes within a decade of its existence. In 2010, in response to charges that the Lavasa Corporation had not applied for or acquired necessary environmental clearance for the project, the Union Environment Ministry issued a ‘stop work’ notice. Thereafter, the hill station got mired in multiple controversies and legal wrangles, including scrutiny by the National Green Tribunal, the statutory body for cases related to environmental protection.
Before 2010, Lavasa was marketed as the perfect world away from the hustle and bustle of the mundane and the largely imperfect. Developed upstream on the Mutha river in Mulshi taluka, it was designed by a team of internationally renowned designers. Simply acquiring a house in Lavasa was not enough. Homebuyers were bound by strict rules in case they wanted to repaint or redecorate their homes from outside.
Today, Lavasa’s uncertain future is reflected in its diminished crowds, empty spaces and the distinct lack of din. The once impressive promenade, designed to resemble the ones in European cities, and its state-of-the-art convention centre are now a former shadow of their glorious selves. Incomplete buildings play hide-and-seek behind overgrown vegetation, as current establishments struggle to break even. Across the lake stands an unfinished luxury hotel. Next to it lies a padlocked world-class convention centre. Even the road to the convention centre has been closed.
“Back then, Lavasa was teeming with activity. We had film, advertisement and TV shoots here nearly every day. Thanks to the functional helipad, people would fly in and out of the hill station all the time,” says Mukesh Kumar, the general manager of the nearly deserted restaurant, Waterfront Shaw, and the luxury 43-room Waterfront Shaw Apartments.
Back then, all resorts and hotels would remain booked. On weekends, Mumbaikars who had invested in houses here would flock to Lavasa, a gated community in the hills without much disturbance.
“All of that seems like ancient history now,” says Kumar, as an old Billy Joel track hums in the background on a dull afternoon.
Sighing over the lack of customers, Kumar, who has been associated with the luxury establishment since the last many years, says their occupancy has nosedived. The Waterfront Shaw once had eight restaurants, offering cuisines ranging from oriental to Indian. While it still has an envious view of the promenade — the European-style construction overlooks a body of water in Lavasa — the marble tables, brought in especially from Jaipur, are covered with cloth due to the dismal footfall.
“Only the American Diner is operational at present. From 122 employees, we are down to just 28. At one time, guests had to make hotel booking months in advance. Now, even during peak tourist season, our occupancy is not more than 20-35 per cent,” he says.
Though the decline set in before 2019, Kumar says the situation escalated rapidly during the pandemic. “The last two years were nearly without any footfall. Just when we thought things were improving, the landslides happened. Frequent power cuts have compelled us to invest in our own generator. At times, even the water supply is not regular,” he says, admitting that it has become rather tough to manage the show.
He is not wrong. Celebrations, another hotel in Lavasa, has morphed into a girls’ hostel for students of Christ University, while Fortune hotel has shut down.
Present tense for the ones still there
Following his retirement from a pharmaceutical company, V K Mittal and his wife decided to make Ashiana their home five years ago. The 200 residents of Ashiana and students of Christ University — sources at the college say it has around 2,000 students — now constitute the bulk of Lavasa’s residents. However, Christ University has announced online classes till the end of August due to the recent landslides, besides the shortage of water and electricity.
Last month’s landslide, which dislodged a bungalow, has put nearly four others at threat of further damage. Residents who stay near Hill Road say urgent work is necessary to prevent more landslides. The landslide, waterlogging and other issues, claims Mittal, are the result of neglect by the Lavasa Corporation, which is responsible for the hill station’s upkeep. More Lavasa residents share his views.
Captain Minoo Wadia claims he has been waging a lonely battle since the last 13 years to keep the township afloat. “The lake needs desilting, something the residents have already paid for. The roads and street lights need refurbishing too. We often end up pooling our resources for the purpose,” he says.
The Indian Express reached out to Suresh Pendharkar, CEO, Lavasa Corporation, but he refused to comment. When The Indian Express contacted Shailesh Verma, the erstwhile Resolution Professional of the Lavasa Corporation, he said, “The matter is being reported to Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai. No further comments.”
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Deputy Chairperson and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) leader Neelam Gorhe, who has been raising issues with regard to the rights of villagers whose land was acquired for the hill station, says she had fought to ensure that nearby villages were allowed to hold their gram panchayat elections after Lavasa was given the status of a planning authority, something that is mostly reserved for the government.
She told The Indian Express that she had raised the matter of compensation and damage in Lavasa when Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited Pune after the recent floods.
“Since the officers present were unable to answer his questions, the Chief Minister directed his questions to the Collector. Yogesh Mhashe, the head of the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA), said they would survey the damage done to Lavasa,” she said.
