The Times of India                04.05.2013

'Civic amenities strained due to unauthorized constructions'

Pardeshi said the civic body provides amenities in the municipal limits where one FSI (floor space index) is used for constructions. However, unauthorized constructions that have grown rampantly in the municipal limits in the past few years have consumed up to four to five FSI. This means that if the civic body creates amenities for 1,000 people then it will be used by 5,000, thus putting a strain on the civic infrastructure. There will be more burdens on the water supply, drainage and road network that the civic body is developing in the city because of the unauthorized constructions.

Pardeshi said that in many areas of the city, people have not left any side or front margins for the buildings that they have constructed. The parking space left on the ground floor is inadequate too, so people are forced to park their vehicles on the roads. Around three per cent of the complaints received by the corporation are about the ill-effects of the growth of unauthorized constructions. This percentage will grow to 30 per cent after five years and to 50 per cent in 10 years, he said.

On the demolition drive, Pardeshi said, "Pimpri Chinchwad city is the only city in the state where the High Court has specifically directed the civic body to take action against the unauthorized constructions. The state government too has made new laws under which the civic officials can be imprisoned for three months and fined for Rs 20,000, if they don't take action against unauthorized constructions.

"We are demolishing all the unauthorized constructions that have been built after April 1, 2012. We are also demolishing the illegal constructions that have been built on the plots reserved for civic amenities in the development plan and those built in the floodline affected areas as they cannot be regularized under any circumstances," he said.