A local elected representative in Uran has urged the Raigad district administration to stop the proposed allotment of 37.515 hectares of government land at Mauje Punade to the Bochasanvasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Trust for a university, saying the site is needed for tribal farming and village-level public facilities.
Uran Panchayat Samiti member Kavita Rupesh Patil submitted a memorandum to Raigad District Collector Kishan Javale opposing the transfer. Patil, who is associated with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), said local self-government bodies should be consulted before land used by residents is allotted to an outside institution.
The land parcel measures about 92.70 acres and is located in Punade village in Uran taluka. According to the memorandum cited in the report, local tribal residents have cultivated vegetables and other crops on the land for years. Patil said the site could instead be allotted to tribal residents for agriculture and allied activities, linking the land directly to local livelihoods.
The dispute also reflects competing demands for land in an expanding urban region. Patil said Punade villagers required land for village expansion and proposed that the parcel could support a playground and botanical garden. She also suggested using part of the land for a dumping ground to address waste disposal requirements in the eastern region. The memorandum noted that a dam is located nearby, which Patil cited while outlining the possibility of developing public amenities at the site.
Patil told the district administration that villagers had opposed the government order allotting the land to the Swaminarayan Sanstha. The report does not specify the date of the order or the present status of the proposed transfer. It also does not state whether the trust has begun any construction activity or whether approvals for a university have been granted.
The Uran Panchayat Samiti has reportedly passed a resolution at its monthly meeting opposing the allotment policy. Patil has asked the Collector to submit a report to the state government recommending that the land not be transferred. The resolution places the local body’s objection alongside the memorandum submitted by the panchayat samiti member, although the report does not provide the full text of either document.
The administration’s response to the memorandum and the local resolution has not been detailed in the supplied report. Shiv Sena South Raigad district chief Surendra Mhatre and taluka deputy convener Rupesh Patil also called for the decision to be reconsidered, arguing that the land is required by local villagers.
The immediate issue is whether the proposed university allotment will proceed and how the district administration will assess competing claims over the parcel. Any further decision would determine whether the land is transferred for institutional development or retained for the agricultural, settlement, recreational and waste-management uses proposed by local representatives.
