The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) will recommend scrapping town planning schemes in villages where at least 50% of farmers oppose them and the gram panchayats pass resolutions against the projects, metropolitan commissioner Abhijit Chaudhari has said.
The assurance came during protests by farmers and local representatives from six Maval villages—Salumbre, Darumbre, Godumbre, Parandwadi, Dhamane and Sangavade—against the proposed town planning schemes and the 65-metre-wide inner ring road.
Chaudhari said landowners could submit signed applications seeking cancellation of the schemes. If the required level of opposition is recorded and the gram panchayats formally pass resolutions against the projects, the PMRDA will initiate the legal process to forward a recommendation to the state government.
The proposed town planning schemes are linked to the authority’s plans for managing development in the expanding Pune metropolitan region. The schemes are intended to organise land development and infrastructure provision, but the current opposition has brought landowner consent and the distribution of development costs and benefits to the centre of the dispute.
The proposed inner ring road is another major point of contention. Chaudhari said the PMRDA’s final structural plan would specify the revised width of the road. Existing zone certificates that mention a width of 110 metres will be amended after the structural plan receives approval. The current proposal discussed with the affected villages has a width of 65 metres.
For landowners whose properties are acquired, the PMRDA has assured fair valuation and full cash compensation. Those who voluntarily consent to acquisition will be eligible for additional compensation, according to the assurance reported by Punekar News. The authority has not provided details in the supplied report on the valuation method, the amount of the additional compensation or the schedule for disbursal.
The issue illustrates the administrative complexity of extending urban infrastructure into villages on Pune’s metropolitan edge. A town planning scheme can reserve land for roads and public amenities while changing how individual parcels are developed. In this case, the PMRDA’s position now places formal local opposition and the response of gram panchayats within the process for deciding whether the schemes should proceed.
The authority also plans to prepare phased development plans for areas along the proposed road. These plans are expected to include urban amenities and planned development sectors, although the specific amenities, implementation phases and financing arrangements have not been detailed.
The next step is for affected landowners to submit signed applications and for the gram panchayats to consider resolutions against the schemes. The PMRDA will then assess the opposition and, where the stated conditions are met, begin the legal process for making a formal recommendation to the state government.
