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Sus hill dug up

Now, illegal construction ravages hill in Sus village and talathi can see the work from his office

Siddharth Gadkari

Posted On Thursday, September 09, 2010 at 01:23:05 AM

Digging in progress on Sus hill

Extent of the damage on the hill in Sus village

The developer’s signboard

Mirror has been fighting for Pune’s hills for a long time now. Here are some of its published reports on the issue

While the central government has announced the Green Mission project to protect the environment, an educated city like Pune does not appear to be taking environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s concerns seriously.

The city’s hills are still being mauled by builders and developers, trying to cash in on the view. This time, the hill in Sus village is being dug up illegally by earthmovers and a construction project is underway. Hills on the outskirts are good targets as they do not draw too much attention.

The hill in Sus village is a prime example of this. The hill under attack falls in survey numbers 60, 62, 65 and 70.

Ironically, the talathi of Sus village, who is a state government official and is duty-bound to check such activities, can clearly see the digging work from his office. In short, the rape of yet another green lung is happening right under the government’s nose.

The work on the hilltop and the hillslope is being carried out by Pearl Property Developers. They have even rechristened the place as Raavi Nagar.

The digging work is extensive and is happening from the lower edge of the hill on the road, that that joins Vir Da Dhaba, right to the top. A wide road to the top is being carved out and one can see ‘shelters’ that resemble go-downs or greenhouses.

It is not clear what the ‘shelter’ is, as entry to the compound has been strictly restricted by security guards. The Mirror team checked out the site by posing as buyers, and saw the extensive damage. A whole portion of the hill looks bare, like it would have been when there is no rain.

The town planning department is the official caretaker of all hills in and around the city. If anybody wants to construct anything on hills or any land that is beyond the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, they have to take permission from the town planning department.

As of now, there is no documentary evidence, like a letter or an application, to show that permission was sought by the developers. Beside that, there is no law or rule which permits construction on hilltops and hillslopes.

There is some contradiction between the two government officials who are supposed to monitor such activities. The nayab-tehsildar, Trupti Kolte-Patil, said the “owner has paid royalty to the government”.

However, she said that she was yet to check if the land was a non-agricultural (NA) zone as per the Collector’s records. But the talathi Uttam Chorge-Patil categorically said the area was not a NA, as he is the first to know about such status. This is important because a NA status means partial permission to construct roads on hilltop/ hillslopes can be granted.

Chorge-Patil said that though the hills did not belong to the government, the developer had no business digging it up. “Pearl property bought a part of the hill 15 years back. The government had given permission to build farmhouses and greenhouses. But they are digging the hill.

We had charged almost Rs 10 lakh as royalty for the debris that would be generated. We can only do that much. We don’t have any staff or authority to take criminal action. We had fined Pearl two months back. I have sent all the records to the tehsildar’s office in Mulshi. As per my knowledge, the land is not a NA Zone.”

Assistant town planner Prakash Bhongale also confirmed that the activities on the Sus hill are illegal. “There is no rule or provision that says permission can be given to cut hilltops or hillslopes,” he said.

When this team contacted the project head of the construction work, Uday Walunj, he defended the digging by saying they had the necessary permissions and that they had paid royalty. “We have taken permission from the collector.

The land belongs to five companies. We’re building farm and polyhouses. We are also making a road to connect them. We have paid Rs 10-15 lakh as royalty to the revenue department,” he said.

Ramchandra Gohad, former town planner and a member of the Pune Metropolitian Regional Development Authority land acquisition committee, said, “Digging hills is illegal.

There is no law that allows it. Nowadays, people take a NA permission and started digging up. It is unlawful. Many pay royalty, which is only for mining, to the revenue department and consider it as a permission to dig up hills. Taking royalty and allowing digging of hills is legally not tenable.”

In this case, it is clear that no mining work is going on on the hill. Pearl property owns a total of 30-acre area here, of which 15 acres comprise hilltops and hillslopes. Pratik P Kume and Atul Shukla are the directors of the company.

Sunshine Developers is undertaking the construction work. In another two or three days, the actual selling of row houses and farmhouse will start.

Sunshine developers is developing roads, greenhouses and other necessary RCC constructions, which is why the flattening of the hill is underway. It is not unusual to see 10-15 trucks carrying tonnes of debris for dumping daily.

We had fined Pearl two months back. I have sent all the records to the tehsildar’s office in Mulshi. As per my knowledge, the land is not a NA Zone.
— Uttam Chorge-Patil, talathi

There is no rule or provision that says permission can be given to cut hilltops or hillslopes.
— Prakash Bhongale, asst town planner

We have taken permission from the collector. We have paid Rs 10-15 lakh as royalty to the revenue department.
— Uday Walunj, hill project head

Digging hills is illegal. Many pay royalty, which is only for mining, to revenue department and consider
it as a permission to dig up hills.
— Ramchandra Gohad,
former town planner and PMRDA member

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