Centre sits up on Lavasa | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Centre sits up on Lavasa

Hindustan Times | ByKetaki Ghoge and Sayli Udas Mankikar, Mumbai
Aug 21, 2010 12:48 AM IST

Lavasa, modern India’s first planned hill city, being built on 25,000 acres of land in Pune district, has come under the scanner of the central ministry of environment and forests, report Ketaki Ghoge and Sayli Udas Mankikar.

Lavasa, modern India’s first planned hill city, being built on 25,000 acres of land in Pune district, has come under the scanner of the central ministry of environment and forests.

HT Image
HT Image

The ministry sent a letter to the Maharashtra government in mid-July asking it for details about the environmental clearances the state had given the project in 2002 and 2004.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

“I have received representations from people saying that the Lavasa project violated environmental norms,” Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told HT. “I sought inquiries about it and wrote to the chief minister asking him to look into the truth of the allegations.”

The city is coming up in the Western Ghats on the slopes of hillocks surrounding the Warasgaon reservoir. It is to have, among other things, villas, luxury apartments and hotels.

CM Ashok Chavan said he had not yet got Ramesh’s letter, but would ask for it from his office. But sources in the state government said it had already sent the ministry an initial reply, pointing out it had given an environment clearance not to the whole project but only to its first phase, on 4,942 acres, in accordance with the norm.

According to its website, Lavasa’s main shareholder is Hindustan Construction Company, which owns 64.99 per cent of the company, while the remaining stakes are held by the Avantha Group, Venkateshwara Hatcheries and Pune-based Vinay Maniar.

The project’s initial promoters included Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule and her husband Sadanand Sule, who withdrew from the project in 2004.

It also included Aniruddha Deshpande, a builder close to Pawar who also later sold his stake.

“Lavasa Corporation has complied with all the environmental norms, which have been closely monitored by the responsible authorities,” a spokesperson for Lavasa Corporation said.

The project has been dogged by controversy ever since it was launched in 2002. Critics, including local farmers, activists and non-profit groups, say it will cause large-scale ecological damage and have questioned the speed at which the state government cleared the project.

According to the state environment committee’s minutes that HT has seen, the government modified Pune region’s zoning rules on May 31, 2001. The very next day, the government declared an area occupied by 18 villages a hill station, following which Lavasa started buying land in that area.

In September 2002, Lavasa applied for environmental clearance to the state government and got provisional clearance in three months, by December.

The government gave it the final one in March 2004.

Unveiling 'Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On