PUNE: The merger of 23 villages in Pune municipal limits took an important step forward after the state government approved the proposal.
While an official notification detailing the merger plan has yet to be issued, citizens and town-planning experts suggested that the civic administration get a head-start by chalking out a holistic planning for infrastructure development and basic amenities in these areas, as well as curbing illegal constructions and encroachments.
The Nationalist Congress Party has a hold on the city’s outskirts and has been pushing for the merger in time for the 2022 municipal elections.
The original proposal involved merging 34 villages in Pune Municipal Corporation limits. Eleven villages were merged in 2017.
Hadapsar MLA Chetan Tupe of the NCP confirmed to TOI that the decks have been cleared to merge the remainder in the next one month. Tupe said the merger would ensure planned development in the city’s peripheries. “State urban development minister Eknath Shinde has approved the merger proposal. Residents of these peripheral villages want improved basic public services and amenities,” Tupe said.
However, experts have questioned the need for the merger as the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority was already in place to administer peripheral areas.
“The merger will only increase the burden on PMC, which is already struggling to handle the existing area and population with limited resources and manpower. Also, PMC will have to find funds for the development of basic amenities in the newly merged areas,” town-planning expert Ramchandra Gohad said.
He said it was imperative that the authorities start planning and executing town-planning schemes in these villages with a focus on water, drainage and public spaces. At the moment, these 23 villages are witnessing haphazard development, Gohad further said.
“There are illegal constructions everywhere and open spaces are encroached upon because there is a lack of monitoring and strong regulations. TP schemes would help the civic body curb such activities,” he said.
Anita Gokhale Benninger, a senior urban planner, opposed the merger and said a separate, smaller municipal corporation should have been created to cater to these villages. “A decentralized system for urban planning and municipal administration is the way forward. The soon-to-be-merged villages are likely to get secondary treatment,” she said.
An source in PMC said a proposal for the formation of another municipal corporation was under consideration.
Rajendra Raut, a senior civic official, said, “Once the notification issued, PMC will chalk out a development plan for these villages [on the same lines as the 11 other villages] and then start the process of property assessment.”
Shrirang Chavan of Haveli Taluka Nagari Kriti Samiti, a citizens’ group, said the merger should be completed at the earliest. “Ward arrangement and delimitation must be carried out before the 2022 municipal elections, which would be possible only after the merger,” he said.
In 2014, the group had filed a petition in Bombay high court seeking the merger. In 2017, the 11 villages were merged. Nine villages were merged partly, while two villages — Uruli and Phursungi — were merged completely. The population in Pune municipal limits had gone up by 2 lakh. Two corporators were elected from these areas in 2018. Following the fresh merger, the population could increase by 6 lakh. Six more corporators are expected to be added to the PMC’s current strength of 163.