Maharashtra govt seeks Pune civic body’s opinion on splitting it to form new municipal corporation
After Guardian Minister Chandrakant Patil raised concern over the adverse impact on the overall development of the city due to the expansion of city limits and instead favoured splitting of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the Maharashtra government has asked the civic body to give its opinion on breaking the PMC and forming a new municipal corporation for the East Hadapsar and Wagholi area.
The Pune city became the city having the largest geographical area in Maharashtra after the state government in June 2021 issued an order to extend the PMC boundaries by including 23 new villages in the existing city limits. The PMC geographical area increased to 516 sq km, which is more than 460 sq km of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which was till then the largest.
“The geographical area of PMC has increased after the merger of 23 new villages last year. It is one of the largest civic bodies considering its geographical area,” Patil said last year, expressing the need to split the PMC to ensure that civic matters are handled efficiently.
Last week, the Maharashtra government decided to exclude Uruli-Devachi and Phursungi villages from the PMC limit and form a separate civic body after there was a demand from local leaders of Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The ruling BJP stayed away from commenting on it.
However, the guardian minister wrote to the chief minister urging for forming another municipal corporation for East Hadapsar and Wagholi, citing the need for proper development of the area.
“We have received a letter from the chief minister’s office seeking opinion on splitting part of the PMC and forming a new municipal corporation for the East Hadapsar and Wagholi area. The PMC will soon respond to it,” said a PMC officer.
It was also learnt that there were efforts by the Union government to merge areas under the Pune Cantonment Board and Kirkee Cantonment Board into the PMC. The elections for the PMC and Cantonment Boards are due, and any decision on changing the boundaries would have an impact on election results.
