PMRDA update

A large part of Pune district, including around 100 fringe villages, will finally have a uniform development plan. Nearly 18 years after it was announced, the state government issued a notification announcing the formation of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and Pune's guardian minister as the body's chairman.The long-awaited PMRDA will have its headquarters in Pimpri Chinchwad.
Once PMRDA is functional, Pune region can hope for an integrated development plan, which the new body be authorized to draft and implement, along with the Regional Plan (RP).
The PMRDA will cover Maval and Pune city entirely , taluka and parts of Haveli, Bhor, Daund, Shirur, Mulshi and Khed taluka of Pune district. It means that the authority will comprise Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations and Talegaon Dabhade, Lonavla, Alandi municipal councils along with about 100 villages spread across the district. However, Pune, Dehu and Khadki Cantonment Board areas are excluded from the PMRDA.
The government has ordered Pune district collector to ensure that the PMRDA office is established with immediate effect in the new building of Pimpri Chinchwad New Town Development Authority and that it starts functioning without any delay .
The PMRDA will be the planning authority and will prepare a development plan for Pune metropolitan region, the notification states. The PMRDA will control the development activities in accordance to the development plan and Town Planning (TP) scheme in Pune metropolitan region. The technical support for the same will be provided by the assistant director of TP, until PMRDA has its own staff.
“All development permission fees viz. scrutiny fee, premium charges, development charges, compounding charges etc. shall be deposited in the separate heads of the PMRDA as development fund and the authority will open a separate account for this purpose,“ states the notification.
In 1997, the government had announced its decision to form the PMRDA. In 1999, the state assembly passed a resolution, but the actual formation of the body was pending due to several technical reasons.
Former TP department official Ramchandra Gohad said the state government has made the right move. “The formation of PMRDA was much needed because Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and fringe villages must have one development plan.In the absence of PMRDA, these bodies are planning and implementing their own plans. However, considering rapid and haphazard urbanization, integrated planning for Pune region is a must and PMRDA will serve this purpose,“ he said.