PUNE: Minister of state (MoS) for urban development and transport Madhuri Misal on Friday said a meeting will be held next week in Mumbai to discuss property tax collection and other civic issues related to 34 merged areas in PMC. At least seven or eight such issues will be discussed, she said.
The Parvati Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) was speaking to the media after a meeting with civic officials at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) headquarters to discuss ongoing civic projects in the city.
Notably, Misal said govt is looking forward to coming out with a comprehensive policy for development of the hilltop, hill slope and biodiversity park (BDP) areas. She said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked for drafting of area-wise proposals pertaining to hill these projects.
Misal, who won from the Parvati seat for the fourth consecutive time in the recent state assembly polls, has been included in the state cabinet. She said it was her first meeting with civic officials to take stock of various projects.
“Detailed discussions were held in the meeting. Some city projects pertain to Centre while many are related to the state urban development department. The issue of collection of property tax from merged areas has been with state govt. We will be discussing it in an upcoming meeting. Another long-pending issue is development planning and funding for merged areas. As of now, Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) is the planning authority for merged areas but PMC extends civic facilities. We will discuss if PMC can be given the responsibility of planning authority, too.”
Referring to the hilltop, hill slope and BDP projects, Misal said the situation is not similar everywhere. “So, we are exploring a proposal to draft plans based on survey numbers and areas taking into account local criteria. Based on this, there is a plan to draft a comprehensive policy,” she said.
The MoS also spoke on the status of ongoing roadworks in various areas, saying civic officials have been asked to complete repairs on a priority basis. “It was learnt that the upper layer of tarring was removed at many stretches, leading to problems for vehicles. Officials have been instructed that reinstatement of the road should be done within 24 hours after removal of the upper layer of tar. We have asked the authorities to take strict action against erring contractors and civic engineers who fail to finish roadworks within the stipulated time frame,” Misal said.
Source Homevior.in
