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#MondayMusings: Public lands need public vigilance
At a time when the citizenry is feeling the acute lack of open spaces in the city, it is all the more necessary for us to protect public lands through public vigilance.
abhay.vaidya@htlive.com
Last week, this newspaper reported on how a local Dalit leader from Bopodi succeeded in securing a prime, one acre plot of public land that lay enclosed within the boundary of a super-luxury residential project in the Khadki-Bopodi area.
The report related to the land situated in the Castel Royale residential complex, outside the Khadki gate of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, where flats in the 26-storeyed buildings are priced between ₹5 crore and ₹17 crore.
The Dalit leader Parshuram Wadekar, whose wife Sunita Wadekar is the BJP-RPI (Athawale) corporator from Bopodi, told this newspaper that he was aware of the existence of a public utility plot which was meant to be handed over to the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) by the builder as a part of his agreement with the civic body.
“I was aware,” said Wadekar, “that the developer Avinash Bhosale Infrastruture Ltd, which has constructed the Castel Royale project, needed to hand over a developed plot of 40 gunthas from this project to the PMC.” Wadekar pursued the matter with the PMC for the last two to three years, and finally it was just three months ago that a formal bhoomi pujan ceremony was held at this plot in the presence of Pune’s guardian minister Girish Bapat, dedicating the plot to the public.
As was reported by HT, a Vipassana and Yoga Centre has been planned by the PMC at this plot along with a public library/reading room which will enormously benefit poor students from Pune University which lies next door.
This is no small achievement on the part of the Dalit leader because there are many public plots in the city which have been usurped and swallowed by private entities in various ways. The ‘public’ character of many of the plots meant to serve as gardens, playgrounds and schools has been wiped out from public memory so that no one is aware of the existence of such plots. Changing the reservation on the plots to some commercial purpose; giving away public plots “on long lease” of 30 to 90 years which means that they are as good as lost and leasing out civic properties on commercially unviable terms for the PMC are some of the ways. Eventually, the existence of such plots is erased from public memory and the property that was essentially meant for public good stands usurped.
It is only public-spirited NGOs, individuals, aspiring ward-level politicians and public-centric news organisations who can expose the truth before the public through their vigilance.
At a time when the citizenry is feeling the acute lack of open spaces in the city, it is all the more necessary for us to protect public lands through public vigilance. This would mean highlighting the existence of such plots and then ensuring that public utility spaces are utilised for the purpose for which they are reserved. It may also mean organising public campaigns around as a part of such efforts to create appropriate pressure on the civic body to restore these spaces to the public.
It is a matter of deep satisfaction that the one acre plot meant for public use has been secured firmly in the Khadki-Bopodi area. This newspaper will monitor the progress on the proposed Vipassana-Yoga centre that has been planned on this plot. Watch this space for more news of a similar kind.
