Maha changing hilltop zone into residential: Bibwewadi residents stage protest

Vinayak Nazare, president of the Traders Protection Trust Bibwewadi, said that addressing the area as a hilltop zone is a misnomer and that it hasn’t remained a hilltop zone since 2018

Residents of the former hilltop zone of Bibwewadi on Sunday staged a public protest against the state government for favouring builders by changing hilltop zones into residential ones. The protesters claimed that mega land parcels estimated to be worth crores of rupees have been rid of their hilltop zone titles and made residential through selective favours.

Nazare said that the residents had checked with the departments associated with this development but the administration did not show any humanity towards them and imposed taxes thrice the amount without any justification. (HT PHOTO)

Vinayak Nazare, president of the Traders Protection Trust Bibwewadi, said that addressing the area as a hilltop zone is a misnomer and that it hasn’t remained a hilltop zone since 2018. “The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) as per its convenience had declared the area as residential and did not invite suggestions and objections. We came to know through the media that the state government has decided to remove the hilltop reservation on three plots namely 623 (7), 652 and 672 and no notification has been issued in this regard,” he said.

Nazare said that the residents had checked with the departments associated with this development but the administration did not show any humanity towards them and imposed taxes thrice the amount without any justification. “We should be given justice and not be subjected to two sets of rules-one for the rich and one for the commoner,” he said.

According to Sunil Walvekar, another resident, locals did not get the benefit of their plots when they resided in the area. Only when the builder bought their plots, the hilltop reservation was lifted and they got the privilege of residential zones for the construction of buildings, he said. “We want the same treatment to be given to us which is being given to the real estate developers,” Walvekar said.

Area resident Gorakh Shelar insisted that residents have been following up the matter with the PMC for the past 25 years but without success. “Tall promises were made by ministers and bureaucrats but none of them were fulfilled. As per an order of 2017 GR, the area has been shown as a residential zone but has been kept under abeyance under the provisions of section 169. Besides, the residents who raise their voice are selectively targeted and their constructions demolished by the civic body,” he said.

Vijay Akurdekar, another resident, said that the government is favouring the builders and not the citizens. “Around 2 lakh residents are facing injustice due to the double dealing and double standards of the state government,” he said. The development plans for the old city limits of the PMC were sanctioned by the state government in 1987.