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After SC ruling, Pune civic body won’t pay more for acquiring 107 acres at Taljai Hill
The Pune Municipal Corporation has already paid Rs 27 crore for land acquisition
As per the recent judgement of the Supreme Court, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) does not need to pay any more money to acquire the 107-acre land at Taljai hill for an eco-park project, civic officials said recently.
“As the apex court has cleared that the civic body does not have to pay any more compensation to land owners, the PMC will not pay any more money to acquire the 107-acre land at Taljai hill. The PMC has already paid Rs 27 crore for land acquisition,” said Rajendra Muthe, PMC estate department officer.
The Supreme Court on March 6 ruled that land acquisition proceedings initiated under an earlier law, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, will not lapse even if compensation is not deposited by the government in court after owners declined to accept the money, as long the compensation has been tendered into the government treasury.
Congress leader, Aba Bagul, said, “On paper, the entire eco-park project land is currently under PMC’s possession, but the civic body is not in physical possession of the land as it is encroached upon by illegal constructions. Now, after the apex court’s landmark judgement, the land can be reclaimed and used to construct the oxygen park. The civic body began the land acquisition process in 2006; however, the land owners had approached the high court and Supreme Court and were objecting to the work carried out by the civic body. Now, the PMC can carry on the development work.”
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Subhash Jagtap and Bagul, in their respective tenures, tried to ensure that the Taljai hill remained green. “After I got elected in 2017, I immediately started to follow up the land acquisition for Taljai hill. PMC had earlier lost the case in the high court. We filed a review petition in the Supreme Court and now the apex court bench has given the decision in our favour,” said Bagul.
He said he has already proposed a detailed project report for the development of the 107-acre plot at Taljai hill. “The Sa Du Shinde cricket stadium has already been constructed. Now the work order for a bamboo garden and bringing in a grey water treatment plant is being floated. I plan to execute the rest of the work on priority basis so that the Taljai hill becomes the city’s major attraction,” Bagul said.
Rajendra Muthe, PMC official, said that as per instructions from the apex court, PMC will now put the ownership of the land under its name and also update the same in all the land revenue records.
