PMC invites suggestions & objections to proposal for changing Katraj land reservation
Once the suggestions and objections are compiled, the PMC will put the proposal before the general body for approval. The proposal will then be sent to the state government’s urban development department for final approval so that the land can be handed over to Katraj Dairy
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has invited suggestions and objections to a proposal for cancelling the reservation of over 3.5 hectares of land in Katraj as a municipal playground and reserving it for dairy production instead while handing it over to Katraj Dairy.
PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar has published the appeal in various newspapers, inviting suggestions and objections to the proposal till February 3, 2024. The proposal in question was approved by the PMC city improvement committee on December 20, 2023, officials said on Thursday.
“As per Pune city’s development plan (DP), the playground reservation on the plot measuring 3.591 hectares at survey no 132 (part) and 133 (part) to be cancelled, and the land to be reserved for dairy production purposes with the Pune District Cooperative Milk Producer Sangh being appointed as authority, and the proposal has been approved and is being put forward for suggestions and objections,” stated the resolution passed by the PMC city improvement committee.
Once the suggestions and objections are compiled, the PMC will put the proposal before the general body for approval. The proposal will then be sent to the state government’s urban development department (UDD) for final approval so that the land can be handed over to Katraj Dairy.
Katraj Dairy, one of the oldest and largest dairies in the district, is run by the Pune District Cooperative Milk Producer Sangh. The proposal mentions that after the change in reservation, the Pune District Cooperative Milk Producer Sangh will be in charge of the land. The dairy’s management, elected in March 2022, is mainly dominated by the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
However, several citizens were not aware that the Katraj land is reserved as a municipal playground. They are now demanding that there be no change in reservation and that the land be maintained as a playground. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Vasant More has even started a signature campaign for the same.
Meanwhile, the approximate market price of the said land located behind Katraj Dairy could be about ₹100 crore, according to real estate experts. Once Katraj Dairy officially takes possession of the land, it may have to pay compensation to the private parties owning the land.
A PMC official requesting anonymity said, “Although the land is reserved as a municipal playground, the civic body has not yet acquired it. Even the PMC does not have adequate funds to acquire the land. If Katraj Dairy gets possession of the land after changing the reservation, the state government will ask Katraj Dairy to pay the land compensation.”
The process to change the reservation of the said land in Katraj began after Ajit Pawar, as the then deputy chief minister, wrote to the PMC in February 2021 for the purpose.