Builders warned against exploiting fringe villages

PUNE, May 6: State Revenue minister Narayan Rane yesterday underlined the need to forestall the growth of unauthorised constructions in the...

PUNE, May 6: State Revenue minister Narayan Rane yesterday underlined the need to forestall the growth of unauthorised constructions in the 36 fringe villages scheduled to merge in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) even while indulging in some plain talk on the controversial issue.

Speaking to media persons, the minister asserted that any kind of tampering with the town planning scheme will not be tolerated. The revenue department would soon decide the nature of action to be initiated against those involved in unauthorised constructions in these fringe villages. “Stringent action was being contemplated,” he said.

The department officials were instructed to keep a close watch on the construction activity in the fringe villages to ensure against further growth of unauthorised buildings, the minister said and added that the district collectorate here was expected to continue the criminal prosecution of erring builders.

Earlier, Rane reportedly issued directions to district collectors and other revenue officials from Pune division to take a serious view of unauthorised constructions within their jurisdictions and initiate action before they spring up. He was addressing them at a meeting held at the Council Hall here. “Do not wait till they (unauthorised constructions) are completed. If nipped in the bud the question of initiating action to rectify things will not arise,” the minister said, according to well-placed sources. The other issue that was keenly discussed at the meeting was that of rehabilitation of irrigation project-affected people in this division. The tehsildars had been instructed to speed up the work of allotting alternative land to the project-affected, Rane told media persons.

He claimed that rehabilitation work at the Neera-Deoghar project was progressing satisfactorily. Various measures were being considered while framing the new policy on rehabilitation to reduce the time-frame currently required for providing relief to the project-affected in this state, Rane added.