3 weeks Ago By Vishwas Kothari
1 2 3 Pune: The Bombay high court has directed state govt's land acquisition department to "immediately consider" Pune Municipal Corporation 's proposal and "complete the relevant formalities" for acquiring land for an approach road to the new bridge, connecting Baner-Balewadi areas with Wakad, across Mula river. The bridge, despite being ready, has remained unused for more than seven years now because of the absence of an approach road that has not been constructed due to land acquisition issues . "The (acquisition) process be expedited," the HC bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice M S Karnik said on April 9, while disposing off a PIL filed by Balewadi and Wakad residents.
Lawyer Satya Muley, who represented the petitioners, told TOI, "The HC has given very strong directives to PMC to acquire the land and open the bridge in an expeditious manner. PMC has filed an affidavit stating it has allocated Rs 25 crore for the acquisition. If we do not see the bridge opening in the near future, we shall move the HC again in six months.
It is an utter waste of public money to construct the bridge and not to open it for public use." The project was launched more than 12 years ago with the objective of helping nearly 2.5 lakh people residing on either side of the river, who are currently required to take a detour via Katraj-Dehu Road Bypass.
It was also aimed at reducing the load of vehicles on the bypass. Its actual construction work started in 2013. Issues relating to the acquisition of 15 guntha land on the Balewadi side for an approach route to the bridge have stalled its use all these years despite more than Rs 30 crore having been spent on the project so far.
It was jointly undertaken by Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations. At the hearing on April 9, PMC filed an affidavit in reply detailing the reasons behind the delay. It stated that budgetary provisions pursuant to PMC general body resolution (through administrator) and entire file, including survey and maps, had been forwarded to the land acquisition department by way of an order passed on April 7.
The affidavit further stated that considering the urgency, the land acquisition department had been requested to complete the necessary formalities and submit the proposal with a request to acquire a portion of the land that has not come under the possession of PMC. Taking note of the PMC affidavit, the bench said, "Learned APP (representing the state) to communicate this order to the concerned authority of the land acquisition department. The authority is expected to immediately consider the proposal and complete the relevant formalities so that the portion of land in question is acquired at the earliest.
" Pune: The Bombay high court has directed state govt's land acquisition department to "immediately consider" Pune Municipal Corporation's proposal and "complete the relevant formalities" for acquiring land for an approach road to the new bridge, connecting Baner-Balewadi areas with Wakad, across Mula river. The bridge, despite being ready, has remained unused for more than seven years now because of the absence of an approach road that has not been constructed due to land acquisition issues. "The (acquisition) process be expedited," the HC bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice M S Karnik said on April 9, while disposing off a PIL filed by Balewadi and Wakad residents.
Lawyer Satya Muley, who represented the petitioners, told TOI, "The HC has given very strong directives to PMC to acquire the land and open the bridge in an expeditious manner. PMC has filed an affidavit stating it has allocated Rs 25 crore for the acquisition. If we do not see the bridge opening in the near future, we shall move the HC again in six months.
It is an utter waste of public money to construct the bridge and not to open it for public use." The project was launched more than 12 years ago with the objective of helping nearly 2.5 lakh people residing on either side of the river, who are currently required to take a detour via Katraj-Dehu Road Bypass.
It was also aimed at reducing the load of vehicles on the bypass. Its actual construction work started in 2013. Issues relating to the acquisition of 15 guntha land on the Balewadi side for an approach route to the bridge have stalled its use all these years despite more than Rs 30 crore having been spent on the project so far.
It was jointly undertaken by Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations. At the hearing on April 9, PMC filed an affidavit in reply detailing the reasons behind the delay. It stated that budgetary provisions pursuant to PMC general body resolution (through administrator) and entire file, including survey and maps, had been forwarded to the land acquisition department by way of an order passed on April 7.
The affidavit further stated that considering the urgency, the land acquisition department had been requested to complete the necessary formalities and submit the proposal with a request to acquire a portion of the land that has not come under the possession of PMC. Taking note of the PMC affidavit, the bench said, "Learned APP (representing the state) to communicate this order to the concerned authority of the land acquisition department. The authority is expected to immediately consider the proposal and complete the relevant formalities so that the portion of land in question is acquired at the earliest.
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