PMC design on cemetery flayed

What has irked PPS convenor Sandeep Khardekar is that the municipal administration has permitted the construction of the hospital building by the Rajasthani and Gujarathi Charitable Trust several years ago without bothering to de-zone the plot.

Drawing a comparison between the latest de-zoning proposal and the controversial Sarasbaug-Parvati ropeway proposal, Khardekar sought to remind the municipal administration that it may face a situation similar to the ropeway case.

It may be recalled here that the PMC8217;s failure to de-zone a prime plot at Sarasbaug had cost it dearly as the ropeway project could never take off and the municipal administration ended up with an arbitrator8217;s decision to pay Rs 3.5 crore as compensation to the ropeway firm.

In the present case, the standing committee had differed on the issue in spite of the municipal administration emphasising that de-zoning the plot was inevitable since the hospital building was already constructed. In case the standing committee cleared the proposal, it will still require approvals from the city improvement committee and the general body.

Khardekar said that it was most deplorable that the municipal administration chooses to delay such important matters while ultimately giving the rules and procedures a go-by.

The procedure laid down in section 37 of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, should be strictly followed in the present case, he demanded while threatening to launch an agitation to curb further occurrences of similar nature.

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