Pune: Urban development minister Madhuri Misal on Wednesday told Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) to fast-track preparation of a structural plan and bring it into force within the next 12-18 months to resolve delays in development permissions following the cancellation of the authority’s draft development plan (DP).The directive was issued during a review meeting held at PMRDA’s Akurdi headquarters, where progress on town planning schemes, the ring road project and other key infrastructure initiatives was assessed. The meeting was attended by PMRDA commissioner Abhijit Chaudhari, additional commissioner K Manjulakshmi and other senior officials.Misal said the transfer of five approved town planning schemes to PMC was under way. She said state govt would expedite approvals for the remaining 15 proposed schemes. Highlighting their importance, she said the future of PMRDA’s proposed inner ring road depended heavily on these schemes, urging officials to prioritise them.The minister also directed officials to speed up the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the proposed twin-tunnel project. She further called for a joint meeting between PMRDA and PMC to ensure coordinated planning of the High Capacity Mass Transit Route, the regional ring road and the twin-tunnel project.During the review, PMRDA informed her about large-scale encroachments on govt grazing land transferred to the authority. Drone surveys are being conducted to determine the extent of the encroachments, while efforts are under way to record PMRDA’s ownership in revenue records.Misal said that although around 2,000 hectares had been earmarked for the authority, it had received significantly less usable land, with several parcels affected by encroachments and disputes. She told officials to explore returning heavily encroached plots to the district administration in exchange for encumbrance-free land and to take up the matter with state govt.She also urged PMRDA to take the initiative in developing an international-standard convention centre without waiting for state funding, saying the project could generate revenue while boosting regional development.To provide interim relief to citizens until the structural plan is finalised, the minister told PMRDA to examine the possibility of granting certain building permissions based on proposed road-planning zones. She also assured support for extending the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR) framework across the PMRDA region.Senior officials, including joint commissioners Rupali Awale-Dambe and Poonam Mehta, chief engineer Rinaz Pathan, director (development permission) Avinash Patil and other department heads, were present and gave updates on ongoing projects and planning initiatives.
