Pune: CM Eknath Shinde Accepts BJP MLA Madhuri Misal’s Plea, Stays Order To De-Reserve Bibwewadi Plot

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday stayed the order to de-reserve a developer’s plot from the hill top hill slope (HTHS) zone in Pune's Bibwewadi. He issued instructions to the Urban Development Department (UDD) to stay the decision of removing select plots from the no-development zone and to submit a fresh proposal considering the entire HTHS zone in the area, which is home to around a lakh people. The decision was taken in response to BJP MLA Madhuri Misal’s request. She had written to the CM on Monday, stating that the entire issue was tarnishing the government’s reputation. When she met the CM on Tuesday, he accepted her request.

The issue began when residents of Bibwewadi became irked on Sunday upon learning that a 7-acre plot in their area was being de-reserved from HTHS. The plot, owned by a prominent developer, was set to be declared a residential zone. To add salt to their wounds, the UDD had lined up a few more plots owned by developers and landowners to be removed from HTHS. In contrast, land parcels where the poor and middle-class had built homes would have remained in the HTHS zone. Residents accused the government of favouring developers.

The HTHS reservation makes any construction on the plots impossible, and those already standing are considered illegal. A vast majority of land in Bibwewadi was included in HTHS in Pune’s development plan of 1987. With several structures, mostly slum pockets, already in place, there was a hue and cry back in the day. As the voices grew stronger, in 2018, the decision to enforce HTHS on the plots was kept in abeyance.

However, recently, the UDD issued an order asking for objections and suggestions to de-reserve a plot located in the heart of the HTHS zone. The plot in question was owned by one Sanjay Bafna and sold to companies run by developer Sachin Ishwarchand Goyal. The plot, measuring 7 acres, has a development potential of ₹2,300 crore.

The decision did not sit well with locals, who urged MLA Misal to intervene on Monday. The same day, she wrote a letter to the CM, requesting him to stay the selective order and consider the entire HTHS area. She stated that the poor and middle-class residents were forced to pay three times the taxes as their homes were considered illegal by virtue of being on HTHS land. She also mentioned in her letter that while developers were being favoured, the poor were being left out, giving the government a bad name.

“I met CM Shinde on Tuesday and urged him to reconsider the UDD’s decision to de-reserve select plots from the HTHS zone, while the poor and middle-class continue to be in the no-development zone. Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis was also present during the meeting and backed my request. The CM immediately passed the order to stay the de-reservation of a select few plots and instructed the UDD to submit a fresh proposal to de-reserve all the land parcels from the HTHS zone in Bibwewadi. I am grateful to the CM and DCM for helping me get justice for the poor and middle class from my constituency, who have been suffering for decades,” concluded Misal.