Pune civic body eyes grazing land to build PMAY houses

The civic body is contemplating to use nearly 35 hectares of unused grazing land for real estate development in the city limits under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana. The 35 hectares of grazing land are mostly in the fringes of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, including the 11 villages merged into the city limits in 2017. “Though the core city areas do not have Gairan (grazing) land, it can be found in the fringes of the municipal limits. They are mainly under the Haveli tehsil jurisdiction of the district collectorate,” an official of the collector’s office said. The standing committee of the PMC had approved the allocation of municipal land for building 6,264 houses under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) earlier this month. “We are approaching the authorities concerned to seek grazing land for public housing projects, especially under PMAY, barring the space required for amenities,” Prashant Waghmare, city engineer, told media. Gairan or grazing land is a public property that is reserved for grazing animals. The grazing areas in the city have lost their relevance because of urbanization and the decline in the dairy business, an official of the PMC said. The PMC has started several housing projects at Kharadi, Hadapsar and Vadgaon under the PMAY. “The civic body has also approved about 6,000 projects by private builders for the construction of houses for the economically weaker sections and low as well as middle-income groups. As many as 12,000 houses are to be built under this scheme so far,” Waghmare said. Civic activists claimed that the PMC must undertake long-term planning before implementing such projects. “The city is already suffering from basic infrastructure issues. For instance, the authorities have not been able to resolve the water crisis in the city. More housing projects will take a toll on the already crumbling infrastructure,” Vivek Velankar of SajagNagrikManch said. The Credai chief of Pune Metro, Shrikant Paranjape, said the civic body must focus on existing reservations for the urban poor first. “The Gairan land can be used for developing spaces for amenities. The PMC must prioritize the development of reservations that are already available in the PMC limits for housing for economically weaker sections and other income groups,” he said. A senior official of PMC said the Gairan land plots were located in different areas of the city. “Some private projects are coming up in those areas and the civic body will have to provide water to them sooner or later. The infrastructure to be built for those private schemes can also be used for the public housing projects on the Gairan land.” The official added, “The PMC is coming up with a number of water supply projects, which will be commissioned in the days to come. Water from these projects can be used for the new housing projects.”