PCMC plan to convert land under green zone into residential area gets government nod

“The earlier opportunity given was till September 2020. Now, the latest notification issued by the government on January 20 says citizens can convert their green zone land into yellow by paying premium by March 8,” civic officials said.

PCMC officials said land outside blueline zone which was a no-residential zone can be converted into residential zone. “The floodlines were drawn by the irrigation department in 2009. As a result, thousands of acres land had turned into green zone or non-residential zone where construction of any kind was prohibited. Now the government has converted the areas outside the blueline into yellow zone where residents can get their constructions legalised by paying five per cent premium or can construct legal structures,” Rajendra Pawar, deputy director of Town Planning told this paper on Wednesday.

The move will benefit residents in 14 surburbs including Poonawale, Charholi, Duddolgaon, Moshi, Chikhali, Talwade, and Kiwale. “Basically, the move will benefit residents living along the three rivers,” said Pawar.

Corporator Seema Savale, former PCMC standing committee chairperson said,”After the floodlines were drawn by the irrigation department, the construction between blueline and redline were barred. The area between the blueline and redline is called green zone where no construction is allowed. This yellow zone will now be converted into yellow zone meaning now construction will be allowed.”

Civic officials said the move is in the interest of 4 lakh square meter land in these more than 14 suburbs. “The PCMC had first sent the proposal during the tenure of then municipal commissioner Rajiv Jadhav. The civic general body meeting had passed a resolution to the effect,” officials said. “Since there was demand from citizens after the first deadline ended in September, PCMC had again sent the proposal to the government,” officials.

Pawar said the residents who wish to convert their land into yellow zone should pay the premium by March 8. “We are charging premium because the civic body has to provide basic amenities and infrastructure in these areas,” said.

Savale said some constructions have come up in green zone which are termed as illegal. “These residents can now get their structure legalised,” she said. Officials however said they were not sure about the number of constructions done in the green zone.

Savale said when the floodlines were drawn 2009, blueline and redline were marked by the irrigation department. “Blueline means where floods are expected once in 25 years and redline means floods are expected once in 100 years. The area between the blueline and redline is called greenzone. The marking of blueline from the river boundary depends on the topography of the area. In some suburbs, blueline is marked up to 30 metres from the river while other suburbs it could be 100 or 300 metres,” she said.

– Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here.</h2