Pimpri Chinchwad municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi
said that deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had convened a meeting in
Mumbai on Monday to discuss civic problems. During the meeting,
principal secretary of urban development department Manukumar
Shrivastava said that unauthorized constructions constructed after March
31, 2012 cannot be regularized as the laws have been amended recently
by the state legislature.

“The civic body is conducting its demolition drive against unauthorized
constructions. We have now found support from the state government for
our drive,” Pardeshi said

There is a demand from the elected
representatives and citizens for extending the duration of the
Gunthewari Act, he said. Shrivastav had pointed out that the Act was
only for a specific period and it cannot be issued again for
regularizing unauthorized constructions. He said unauthorized
constructions built on plots reserved in the development plan (DP) or on
land affected by floodlines, green zones and no development zones
before March 31, 2012 cannot be regularized.

Mayor Mohini Lande
said, “The state government has declined to regularize the unauthorized
constructions built after March 31, 2012. We pointed out that the civic
body has stopped giving basic amenities to the people residing in areas
affected by the buffer zone of Moshi garbage
depot. We have demanded that the buffer zone limits be reduced as many
houses have come up. We also demanded that the amenities be restored to
these affected people. Pawar accepted our demands.”