Residents of Katraj, Pune to get public road after 10 year long haul

The development plan (DP) for the said road located on survey no 41/1 in Kondhwa Budruk has been sanctioned by the PMC

The eighteen month battle of a retired defence personnel and senior citizens against two 15- year-old corporate encroachments on a public road in Katraj seems to be coming to an end with the Pune municipal corporation’s anti-encroachment squad demolishing the illegal structures of private companies during last few days.

PMC’s anti- encroachment squad demolishing illegal structures (HT PHOTO)

Madhusoodan Korekar, along with the residents of Prathamesh park co-operative housing society were running from pillar to post to remove the encroachment. They had approached Pune municipal corporation (PMC) road department and Kondhwa police in the issue.

A visit to the spot revealed that bull dozers had flattened the entire encroachment and seventeen truckloads of sandstone (crushed murum) had been laid on the entire road stretch. Now, a tar road will be built on the stretch later during the new year and more than 10,000 residents of the area will benefit from the new road.

The development plan (DP) for the said road located on survey no 41/1 in Kondhwa Budruk has been sanctioned by the PMC. Korekar had petitioned the top government functionaries of the state of Maharashtra and had approached the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) after which action was initiated against the violators. Korekar had tersely communicated to the government that the PMC roads and building permission department was denying the area residents their fundamental right to a road.

“The road should have been constructed ten years back but unfortunately, the PMC building permissions and roads departments delayed the issue and allowed the encroachers to illegally occupy public land. During my interaction with the PMC for getting the road work done, I felt that the concerned department were actively helping the encroachers and denied the citizens their right to a road,” said, Korekar. We also demand criminal cases and a Crime Investigation Department (CID) probe into the issue, he added.

In spite of numerous right to information (RTI) applications with PMC related to the officials responsible for carrying out survey, issuing notices and subsequent demolition were stonewalled. According to Korekar, the RTI was not answered as the PMC’s unaccountable officials engineered the scam and cheated the citizens for past ten years.

“Hence we have demanded registration of Indian penal code (IPC) based criminal cases against all the PMC officials who did not do their duty and become natural accused in the case,” he said. Korekar has written a petition to Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister alleging that PMC roads and building permission departments need to be probed for their corruption and nexus with encroachers and demanded that they be suspended from their service for creating problems for the tax paying residents instead of helping them.

Korekar thanked Pune Mayor Mukta Tilak for taking up the issue and issuing necessary directions following his complaints to the higher authorities. Pune Mayor Mukta Tilak, said, “We issued directions to the concerned department and action was taken after follow up over the issue.” He said Tilak had specifically instructed the anti-encroachment department directing them to remove encroachments on the road and also the roads department for resolving the issue at the earliest.