Bombay HC orders PMC to compulsorily acquire land for Baner-Pashan Link Road

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor took cognisance of the hardships faced by the residents as the road has been pending since 2014.The court gave its decision after hearing a petition filed by the Baner-Pashan Link Road Welfare Trust and scheduled the next hearing for September 20

The Baner-Pashan Link Road which was sanctioned in the Development Plan in 1992 is crucial for connectivity between Baner, Balewadi and Pashan.The link road is 1,200 metres long and 36 metres wide, and 1 km of it was constructed in 2014. But two patches, of 150 metres and 50 metres, remain yet to be constructed, rendering the entire road useless and public money to waste.

According to the petitioner, the Baner and Pashan neighbourhoods are currently connected through only one narrow dangerous road which is barely about seven metre wide, which has no scope of widening as there are pre-existing developed private properties.

"In the facts of the present case, to leave the road with unconstructed stretch of 200 metres will not be in public interest and accordingly, in any condition, construction of the road needs to be completed. For the said purpose, if the negotiations with the land owners has failed, the only course open to the Municipal Corporation is to initiate the process of compulsory acquisition under the concerned legislation," the bench stated.

Therefore, the Bombay HC bench directed the municipal commissioner to take a decision for compulsorily acquiring the land and to present before the court a timeline within which the acquisition process as well as the construction of the unconstructed stretch of the road shall be completed. The PMC has been given time till September 20 to present the plan.

"The incomplete Baner-Pashan Link Road has caused inconvenience for lakhs of citizens for decades. The existing narrow roads are unsafe,especially for children and senior citizens, due to heavy traffic. There is no public bus transport in our area due to the incomplete road. Essential services, such as water supply, electricity, and drainage have not been planned properly due to the incomplete road.It should be the number one priority of the PMC to complete the Baner-Pashan Link Road and the other 350 link roads that are pending due to land acquisition delays. We hope that the High Court directions will awaken the PMC to the reality of the heavy consequences faced by ordinary citizens due to their inordinate delays, and that they will take immediate measures to complete the road in an acceptable time frame." said Rajendra Chuttar , president ,Baner-Pashan Link Road Welfare Trust which is the petitioner in the case.

The civic body had citied lack of funds, non cooperation from land owners' and absence of an elected general body as reasons for the delay, in response to the petition.

Advocate Satya Muley, on behalf of the residents stated, "It is a poor situation of civic management and decision making by the PMC. Amenities such as connecting link roads, bridges, amenity spaces are basic fundamental rights of the residents. They pay taxes to the corporation to receive basic civic amenities and if they are made to fight for roads, bridges, link roads, water, footpaths, clean hygienic environments and also knock on the doors of High Court that it is a big failure on part of the Pune Municipal Corporation."

Muley further said, "The tolerance level of the residents has reached its limits as we are regularly witnessing protests by resident forums across Pune. The High Court order is a wake up call for PMC, and we hope that they comply with the directions in the interest of the people."

Satya Muley
Satya is a leading Civil & Criminal Law lawyer from Western India.
He practices at Bombay High Court, the Supreme Court and Courts in Pune/Maharashtra & New Delhi.
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