“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell” … Edward Abbey
“Any fool can make a rule
And any fool will mind it.” … Henry David Thoreau
“You can't plow a field simply by turning it over in your mind.” … Gordon B. Hinckley
“Any sport is fun only if it has the right rules & is played by them” … Me
After a long time I am back to my most favourite (read as disliked) subject & that is Urban Planning & that too about our beloved Pune region. I know, many will say then why we also are wasting our time by reading ahead as you have already done that, well I forgive you for not understanding sarcasm! I keep writing because I am of the old school which grew up reading Vikram & Vetal stories from Chanda mama (Plz google Gen Z), where Vikram was persistent to drag the Vetal even though the Vetal keeps eluding him by making him to break his promise of not to talk! Those stories have very deep impact on me as well I am sure on that entire genre (who read in the first place, more sarcasm) as it's not about just making us know about right & wrong via the riddles which vetal throws on Vikram but its about not giving up the task also, so be it! Ok, urban planning & that too of Pune region, so let's first get some introduction to this Pune region thingy which is In thing for our Hon CM & his deputies’! Long back (read as just three decades back) when there was no Pune region term existed & there were three very clear division of urban planning i.e. there was Pune which included old PMC limit means from Peth Area to Kothrud/ Aundh on west side, Hadapsar on east side, Bibwewadi on South side & Yeravda on East side, that’s all. On west side after Aundh, there was Bopodi which many thought not part of Pune but it was & after that PCMC started which most knew as Telco & Bajaj factory’s home town, nobody thinks PCMC is a city for living (I am not joking), Hinjewadi didn’t exists then, means as IT park, this was PCMC. And rest anything was part of Pune District which was governed by town planning. And yes, there were pockets in between named as Cantonment, which nobody knew means what & who controls & frankly nobody cares. If you think this is absurd & is a joke then, it is not a joke but a cruel reality & is a main reason of my frustration as this nobody cared was & is the main problem of today’s Pune region’s degradation! I know, many wont like the word I used as how can I write negative about my own profession (read as real estate), but please know that my sharing is not about real estate but about urban planning & if we don’t accept the facts & correct ourselves then definitely it is going to damage the real estate which happened to be my profession, so the sharing (and frustration too)!
So, now you know there have been nearly four or five governing authorities who were supposed to control urban planning & they all have separate set of rules for doing so, which popularly is called as DC (Development Control rules). These rules decide how much buildings can be built on the lands & height, tenement density (numbers of units), margins & many such, in short its like Bible, Gita & Kuran (I have used all three religious books names to make readers know it’s not about abusing or praising some religion but to state importance of DC rules for city, disclaimer). And the local body keeps control on any new project (which comes for sanction, sarcasm) via these DC rules. Now, PMC, PCMC, Cantonment (I presume) & Town Planning all were having separate such rules & nobody complained because physical as well even social boundaries of these bodies were very clear. But in the last two decades the entire Pune & PCMC & areas beyond them started developing faster than the imagination of our urban planners & result was the age-old physical & social boundaries between all these local bodies started dissolving. Though for governing revenue they remained different yet now you can differentiate by address or even distance where you are residing & the concept named Pune region or Greater Pune (I derived it as it sounds nice, lol) evolved. Now just by calling Pune region if you think things would have been fine then it's as childish a thought that if we merge Palestine & Israel all will be well, unless there have been the same rules for every local body, right? So, the Mai Baap govt came up with a unique idea of UDCPR (plz google), in nutshell same building rules for entire Maharashtra, except Mumbai (obviously, sarcasm) & where planning authority is there. Here is the real game (read as foolishness) as for controlling growth (read as swelling, sarcasm) beyond limits of PMC & PCMC & Cantonment (one more joke) govt has formed PMRDA, a planning authority with separate identity. Now real joke started, this planning authority neither has own DC rules nor has got DP, oh yes before you go ahead there is a catch with DC rules. There has to be (at least I think so) a Development Plan i.e. DP in place to apply the DC rules. In short, you want to play Tennis, you have racket, ball, players & you know rules of tennis but where will you play the game, right? That’s where, answer lies in DP as it’s the plan of the land which decides where I can build what or say it’s a plan of the entire city which decides the land use where the DC rules can be applied, hussshhh!
Now, the problem with this PMRDA named child (read as orphan) was it neither has DC rules nor DP in place & yet the planning authority was in place for nearly a decade, this itself must be Urban Joke of the Century but wait, more jokes are still to come! Somehow the planning authority continued with the hope of making DP of its own which is a big job especially for a govt body which wants to make everybody associated happy (read as financially) & in such case planning land use of area of nearly 7000 plus sq kms was a huge task & it took years. Finally, the DP was drafted by PMRDA & as DP was not in place there were no separate DC rules but whatsoever the Town planning dept was using before formation of PMRDA, the same rules were being used for sanctioning the projects, just the name of the authority has changed! Now, as this PMRDA’s DP took nearly four years & suggestions objections also were conducted, & everybody thought things will be smooth finally, one more twist came. Out of the PMRDA land major development was obviously in the fringe area of PMC limit & nearly 33 villages on the fringes of PMC were merged in PMC of which DP has been already prepared by PMRDA. Now if these villages which already are suburbs of PMC & hereafter the sanctioning authority will be PMC, how can they accept (and why would they) DP made by PMRDA is the question which authorities started asking. And on top of it few wise citizens (in Pune there are many, sarcasm) challenged the legal proceedings itself of the PMRDA’s DP in high court & Maai Baap govt for their own reason squashed the DP for the reasons known to them only! I am not an expert but PMRDA’s constitutional chief is Chief Minister of State & PMRDA’s governing State dept is Urban Development which is headed by Dy CM of the State & these two represents different political parties, if I am needed to explain further, then you can stop reading right here as you are too blessed (read as lucky to be ignorant) on this front!
Come today i.e. Aug 2026, situation is, there is no DP in place in PMRDA, so you don’t know where to build what. Nearly 100 plus sq km area of PMRDA where maximum development is happening has been attached to PMC where UDCPR (DC rules for entire State) are already applicable but here also there is no DP in place & bigger joke is plans are being sanctioned from the worst of two plans i.e. existing town planning plan & cancelled PMRDA’s DP, have you ever come across bigger urban planning joke ever, well more are coming, keep patience! If you are confused what it's to do with you then look at this scenario, if unfortunately, you are a developer asking for sanction of a project in these merged villages, then PMC will sanction your plan with all permissible potential & DC rules but! But, your plans will be assessed depending on what’s its land use in town planning DP, one which has been made nearly thirty years back & one which doesn’t exist! Take a small example, there is a ring road which was proposed by PMRDA (there is one already in building, this is its step brother, sarcasm) which was shown earlier with a width of 110 m. Later on, PMRDA’s DP was reduced to a width of 65 m. Now this ring road goes through PMC limits also & out of the 33 villages the 11 one which PMC has made DP for, there the width of this road has shown & sanctioned as 65 m. Till here it's fair enough, but today if your land is in the rest of 22 villages which were earlier in PMRDA & now are in PMC and if your land is abutting this ring road then you will have to accept the road width as 110 m, why? Because though PMC is sanctioning your plan still as they don’t have DP, they have to consider PMRDA DP & if you say PMRDA DP shows road widths as 65 m then that DP is cancelled & before that the ring road width by notification was 110 m, so we may not be building the ring road of 110 m wide yet as today no DP says so, legally you will have to leave the ring road as 110 m width only. And the very same PMC sanctions plans in other suburbs, the very same ring road going by width of 65 m, now this is the real biggest urban planning joke I have come across in my thirty years of urban planning!
And the joke series goes on as leave road widths, nobody is clear about any infra growth in PMRDA region leave apart the blessed 33 villages which at least have PMC in control. And on top of it now the govt announced UDCPR as DC rules for entire PMRDA means now you have rules for how much sq ft & in which way you can build your project without having clarity of where you should build it & who will be making roads for it, how the residents will get water, where will be electricity sub stations & so many how & where but, you can build for sure! And both authorities PMC as well PMRDA has conveniently freed their hands from taking any responsibility than sanctioning the plans & collecting development charges because you have to give undertaking for water, drainage, road & anything related to infra provision for these projects to PMRDA/ PMC if you want to get a sanction, thanks god at least Oxygen supply they are not taking undertaking for (sarcasm) from the builders! I am not against UDCPR or any rules, I am just pointing out the problems which we will bring in & govt not taking responsibility of any such problems, leaving the occupants of all these so-called growth or developments (whatever) named structures on their own! How can we apply some det of rules when we don’t have a development plan on ground, have we all forgotten basic urban planning? And that too with no execution authority in place, do mind PMRDA is planning authority not a governing body like PMC or PCMC which has at least some set up to execute the DP & they too lack on making DP! Here, we are giving responsibility to PMRDA of some thousands of sq kms area to manage & with no DP, no infrastructure making authority or power & no set up, what are we making of Pune region, is my question to all concerned!
I know the outcome, as with UDCPR is place & no DP to define land use, there will be flood of illegal constructions which by the time when DP will be on paper (some day) will be declared legal under the provision as the FSI allowed as per UDCPR, which they will be building today only. Look back at past at look what happened to Dhankawdi (plz goggle) & all the then illegal buildings which all are still there even after getting merged in PMC, here it will be PMRDA but the fate of the Pune region is at stake this time! Instead, what govt should focus is, make Fast Track (sorry, it’s a joke actually, yet) DP making task force & implementing & for that the most important thing is setting up a Secretary ranked officer for Pune region in UD dept at Mantralay. And give them targets as well team & authority to execute their planning & if right power is given what can be done, we are witnessing at Food & Public Health dept. right now (Courtesy Mr Tukaram Mundhe)! Because, the UDCPR is applicable to the entire Maharashtra but still the major growth is in Pune region & the area along with infrastructure needed here is hundred times more than the entire remaining State which must have a separate desk or else the priority is lost. Look at the mess we are creating with so called TP schemes. First we declare them & then one fine morning we say they are time consuming & we will squash them & buy land needed for infrastructure & then we don’t do also that infrastructure neither we make TP schemes & still we think the growth of Pune region will be planned, well whom we are fooling! And for that first keep our rulers must keep their political differences aside & focus on proper development (one more joke) as at present three different parties which are in ruling have a say in Pune regions; Hon CM, who is constitutional head of PMRDA & then he is CM also. One DCM is head of Urban Development dept & another DCM is our district’s guardian minister & despite that citizens of Pune have to beg for water tankers, take help of social media for their road pot-holes issue, spend hours in crazy traffic jams, has to travel for miles to send their kids to some good school & forced to buy flats in illegal buildings which nobody asks how they came in existence; Daya, jarur kuch gadbad hai!! Guys, Pune region is blessed by culture, nature, heritage & has perfect potential for growth, it's up to MaiBapp govt whether we convert this potential into a healthy body or allow it to become a cancer patient by uncontrolled growth, adios with this warning!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html
https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
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