CIDCO loses planning agency tag for three Navi Mumbai nodes, Panvel municipal body to take over

While CIDCO will continue to retain the planning agency status for the partially-developed Kharghar node, which has also been included in the municipality, the Chief Minister has directed authorities to complete infrastructure and development work in this node within three years, sources said. Besides CIDCO, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will also lose its status as the SPA for 11 other villages for the same reason.

On Saturday, Fadnavis appointed Dr Sudhakar Shinde, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 2007-batch, as the municipal commissioner of the newly-formed municipality.

Shinde, who was earlier on deputation as a deputy secretary with the Chief Minister-led urban development department, is the first IRS officer to be appointed as a commissioner of a municipal corporation in Maharashtra.

Incidentally, Shinde is also the younger brother of Maharashtra’s Water Conservation Minister Ram Shinde.

While the government had originally proposed that the new municipality should be spread over 179.96 sq. kilometers and cover 68 villages, the area was eventually trimmed down to 29 villages and the council.

About 69.90 square kilometer of the originally proposed area, covering 36 other villages, was excluded, after the CIDCO made the case of developing them as part of the state’s new showpiece city — NAINA — coined after the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area. Ironically, almost all of these villages have opposed their inclusion in the NAINA development plan.

Metropolitan body for Aurangabad
On the lines of the MMRDA, the state is planning to set up the Aurangabad Metropolitan Region Development Authority to “push infrastructure and development works” in Marathwada. Sources said the Chief Minister might make an announcement in this regard during next week’s Cabinet meeting, which will be held in the Aurangabad. The plan has, however, stirred up a debate in political circles on Shiv Sena, which controls the local municipality, will respond.