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Journalism of Courage
PUNE, July 9: The controversial issue of dereservation of a plot on Prabhat Road for Chief Minister8217;s son-in-law today created pandemonium in the standing committee meeting of Pune Municipal Corporation resulting in a walk-out by the committee chairman Ramesh Bodke.
Bodke walked out of the meeting halfway following strong objections raised by vociferous Congress members on the administration8217;s proposal of converting the identified piece of agriculture land at Lohegaon into residential zone for construction of a primary school. The proposal was then deferred by the civic body to be debated on July 21.
Nitin Jagtap and other Congress members in the committee raised several objections on the proposal and repeatedly sought explanations from Municipal Commissioner Rajiv Agarwal who was also present in the meeting.
The members contended that the issue regarding the zone conversion for plot of land in Lohegaon, which was shifted from its original reserved place on Prabhat Road, should not be considered in isolation.
As the agitated Congress members refused to accept the chairman8217;s view that administration8217;s proposal should not be linked with the Prabhat Road plot controversy, Bodke walked out the meeting.
He was immediately called back by BJP and Sena members and the issue was differed till July 21.
In another decision the committee redirected the proposal submitted by administration seeking dezoning of 110 hectares of agriculture land in Karvenagar for residential purpose.
The committee asked the administration to submit a detailed plan on the present state of agriculture zone giving a complete layout of the existing residential areas and vacant plots in the zone.
The decision gains significance as some corporators have substantial land holdings in the Karve Nagar area and are believed to be strongly lobbying for approval of the civic administration8217;s dereservation proposal.
It may be recalled that the standing committee had earlier passed a proposal dezoning 6 different agriculture lands in the city collectively measuring 180 acres on the grounds that majority of these land were either less than 30 hectares or having large number of constructions, thus leaving no room for microplanning, a prerequisite set by committee for dezoning 1630 agriculture land in city.
Some major proposals passed by the standing committee today include approval for an independent police squad for the civic body for carrying out the demolition work of illegal structures in the city.
