'New Mahabaleshwar' plan to give stimulus to tourism in hill station

PUNE: The state urban development department (UDD) has proposed a “planned development” of Mahabaleshwar to boost tourism in the hill station. The move has, however, alarmed environmentalists as it is an ecologically sensitive area.


In a notification issued on Friday, the UDD, under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, 1966, appointed the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) the “special planning authority” to develop the hill station across 52 villages of Jaoli, Patan and Satara tehsils as part of the “New Mahabaleshwar” project.

State UDD principal secretary Nitin Kareer told TOI that the aim of the notification was to carry out a planned development of the hill station to boost tourism in the area. “As of now, the planning is haphazard and, with this notification, the planning authority will have to come up with a new plan for the hill station,’’ he said.

A list of seven conditions has been imposed to ensure environmental safeguards are in place while developing “New Mahabaleshwar” across an area of 37,258 hectares. The department’s move has triggered concern among environmentalists. Satya Natrajan, a city-based environmental activist, said that while the development around ‘New Mahabaleshwar’ needs to be studied, trees are being cut and replanted in urban areas without any survey on their numbers.

There are concerns that development could harm the natural ecology of the hill station, especially considering the recent flash floods in Kolhapur , Satara and Sangli districts. However, UDD officials stated that there would be stringent rules and the recent floods in the area and surrounding regions are due to “extreme weather events” .

As per the notification, a development plan will be prepared for all the 52 villages within the next one and half years and a consultant will be appointed to prepare a detailed project report.