The Times of India         20.11.2014  

4 more villages slated for merger with PMC

PUNE : The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is certain to become the largest civic body in terms of area after the law committee on Wednesday approved a proposal to merge four more villages with the city's limits. Its geographical area will increase from the current 243.84 sq km to over 500 sq km.

The four villages are Vadaki, Sanaswadi, Avhalwadi and Sanasnagar located on the Pune-Solapur and Pune-Ahmednagar highways. The proposal will go to the general body and then to the state government before an official merger.

The final process for including 34 fringe villages in the civic limits had started in May 2014 with the state government issuing an official merger notification. According to the notification, issued by the state urban development department then; 34 villages located along the fringe areas of Pune will be brought in the municipal folds.

After the approval at the law committee, Vadaki, Sanaswadi, Avhalwadi and Sanasnagar have cleared first step for becoming the part of PMC. These villages are located around Pune Solapur highway and Pune- Ahemadnagar highway. The The proposal will go to GB and then to state government before official getting merged.

"These four villages were left out of the process, so we decided to include them with the corporation's limits," said Ashwini Jadhav, head of the law committee. Some MNS corporators opposed the merger which was supported by the Shiv Sena, BJP, NCP and Congress.

Some elected members have said that while considering the merger, issues about illegal constructions can crop up. The civic administration should consider making rules and regulations to deal with illegal constructions in these villages, they said.

The proposal states that building permissions given to developers in these villages should be cancelled and constructions allowed on amenity spaces should be halted. The same rules and regulations will be applicable for the new four villages, it said.