State gives Mulshi villages a hill station tag, but slaps 19 conditions

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Officials said, the developer for the hill station — Aqualand India Limited — according to the town planning department, will have to show the ownership of land above 400 hectare. The developer will have to follow the conditions laid down by the state which states—unless Tata company gives a no objection certificate on usage of water, the further process cannot be given a go-ahead. Presently, there is only one approved hill station — Lavasa in the district — while the second proposal of Maharashtra Valley Development ran into rough weather, the third in the Mulshi area has been approved with 19 conditions.

“After Lavasa, the government has decided to adopt a cautious approach towards every project. While the government has agreed to change the status of land from agricultural to that of a hill station, they want to ensure that no problems crop up as they did during Lavasa” said a town planning department official. With the hill station project coming under the catchment area of the dam, the state has also demanded a “no-objection certificate” from the environment department about waste water and solid waste,” states the notification.

The government under the November 26, 1996 notification has sanctioned the special regulations for development of tourist resorts/holiday homes/townships in hill station under section 20 (4) of the Maharasthra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. Suggestions and objections were sought for this and the deputy director of town planning had submitted the report to the state on October 21, 2009 to promote tourism.

Even as the state has decided to be tourism-friendly, the conditions laid down have spelt out clearly the rights of villagers and their access to forest land and the protection of it.

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A Few CONDITIONS…
1) ‘Right of way’ of all lands within gaothan and outside the gaothan will be intact.
2) Gaothan area shall be deleted from the proposal as part of rights of the villagers in these areas.
3) Permissions from the irrigation and forest department have to be sought for water usage and the source would also require clearance.
4) Specific concern has been stressed on any lands which are not transferable or which are not allowed to be sold or purchased as per the Maharashtra Land Revenue code to be deleted.
n Constructions not permissible on lands having altitude 1,000 metre and more and FSI of such land shall not be permissible.
n The other conditions include yearly report of the project submitted to the Collector.