Panel to draw Mutha plan

PUNE, Dec 8: The Pune civic administration has appointed a 19-member committee to prepare the master plan for the Rs 150-crore Mutha Rive...

PUNE, Dec 8: The Pune civic administration has appointed a 19-member committee to prepare the master plan for the Rs 150-crore Mutha River Improvement scheme, which will give a fresh’ look at the presentations to be made by the same seven groups who had been selected previously as part of a competition.

The meeting of the new consulting committee is scheduled on December 14 after which the groups will be invited to make their presentations afresh. The sanction to the ambitious scheme had been delayed as elected representatives had opposed the administration’s decision to hand over the multi-crore contract to the Pune River Group (a body of architects, engineers, historians and experts) – following a competition seeking draft plans from bidders of the Mutha river beautification.

They had opposed the draft plan of the Pune River Group as too fanciful. The administration too had admitted its lapse on thoroughly scrutinising the financial feasibility of the project and agreed to take a fresh look at the entire project. However, the same groups including the PRG who had been selected following a competition will be invited to make their presentations.

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The committee members include former mayor and Congress corporator Vandana Chavan, Congress party leader in the PMC Ulhas Dhole Patil, RPI Corporator Avinash Salve, standing committee chairman Ramesh Bodke, PVA corporator Shiva Mantri and BJP Corporator Vikas Mathkari.

Among others include environmentalists Mukund Ghare of AFARM, Vijay Paranjape of ECONET, Sharad Mahajan of MASHAAL, R S Dhaneshwar from the National Environment Engineering Research Institute and Raja Belare. Inspector General of Forests (retd) Yashwant Jadhav also forms part of the committee apart from civic officials city engineer Madhav Harihar, Development Engineer (road) P T Pawar, Deputy City engineer (drainage) R T Shelkhande while Development Engineer (development works) V Y Keskar will be the member secretary.

The Director of the Central Water and Power Research Station, Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, Chairman of Maharashtra Jeeven Pradhikaran also form part of the committee, Keskar told The Indian Express. The committee members will prepare a master plan setting the norms for the beautification plan. The seven groups are expected to submit revised plans.