Although the state government has assured to uphold EWS (economically weaker section) housing reservation at the site of Avinash Bhosale Infrastructure Ltd’s (ABIL) Castel Royale project in Bopodi, there has been no action by the government or the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) regarding the public reservations for a playground and primary school at the site.
This apparent indecisiveness of the civic body and the state government has put a question mark on the fate of the vital reservations for primary school (PS) and children’s playground (CPG) in Bopodi.
These reservations are located on the Survey Numbers 37 and 87, the site for ABIL’s super-luxurious housing project, which envisages construction of five towers of 26 storeys each, of which two have been constructed.
Early this week, municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak told DNA that he has been informed by the state government that it would ensure construction of about 30,000 square metres of EWS housing by ABIL at its Bopodi site.
However, Pathak said that no directions were given regarding the other two public reservations relating to a school and playground. “We have not received any direction regarding the other two reservations,” he told DNA.
Located near Khadki gate of the University of Pune, 69,438 sq metres has been earmarked for a PS and another 2,618 sq metres for a CPG. Following a series of reports by DNA from May 25 onwards, PMC corporators, cutting across party lines, had promised to protect the reservations.
Reacting to the development, Professionals Party of India spokesperson Girish Deshpande demanded that the civic body take immediate steps to protect the public reservations. Citing the lack of amenity spaces all over Pune, he said, “The original purpose of reservation must be maintained and the land earmarked as CPG must be so developed.”
Right to Information activist Vijay Kumbhar said both the state government and the PMC should honour the recent Supreme Court verdict in the Sun Dew Apartments case regarding safeguarding spaces earmarked for public amenities.
In the Sun Dew Apartment case, the PMC had removed the reservation of a PS on a prime plot of land on Prabhat Road for the residential project of Girish Vyas, the son-in-law of the former chief minister, Manohar Joshi.
Kumbhar’s legal crusade of 13 years bore fruit after a recent Supreme Court verdict directed the return of the building to the PMC, to be used as a PS.
