MAHARASHTRA’S NEW HILL STATION TO COME UP IN MULSHI Titan ONovember 20,2014 tm Current Affairs, Environment, Maharashtra @ 106 Views Maharashtra which is blessed with popular hill stations like Matheran, Bhandardara, Lonavala and Amboli have embarked on a plan to create another man-made hill station. After the controversy-hit Lavasa and Aamby Valley, construction of Maharashtra's next new lakeside hill township could begin soon in Pane’s Mulshi taluka, with the state environment authority granting environmental clearances. In the past, popular hill stations like Ooty, Matheran and Mahabaleshwar were developed by British officers. Recently, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MIDC) can take just pride in having developed Bhandardara, Ganpatipule, Tarkali and many other destinations. After the exclusive Lavasa Lake City (and Amby Valley), yet another manmade hill station is coming up in Mulshi. The Urban Development Department (UDD) of the State government issued a notification (1810/1551/pc2383/2010/ud-13) on October 21, which was published in the gazette on October 28. Background of this project: Private Limited (MVVPL) covering seven villages of Mulshi taluka and it also got clearance from the state government on May 19 2012. However, the deputy director of town planning, Pune division had submitted a favourable report a year earlier in January 2011, after receiving a no-objection to the notification for delineating the seven villages as hill station area.The project was much deliberated upon by the SEACs as it falls under an environmentally sensitive region in the Western Ghats. Villages covered under new Hill Station: MVVPL will seek to develop the hill station project in the seven villages of Mulshi taluka which includes- Saltar, Mazgaon, Barpe Bhu, Barmbarde, Ekole, Ghutke and Adgaon. Permission Granted: Similarly, The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SELAA) recently gave This would be the first new hill station to come up after Lavasa and Aamby Valley under the Maharashtra's government Policy to develop New Hill station 1996. The authority gave environment clearance to the new hill station project during its meeting held on October 29 2014. Maharashtra State Policy to develop New Hill station (1996). Presently Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Matheran, Chikhaldara, Panhala, Khultabad are the only hill stations in Maharashtra. Taking into consideration the geographical features and to encourage the tourism potential in the State, the Government has formulated the Hill Station Policy in the year 1996, for the Development of the Hill Stations by the private developers.Salient features of this policy are- * Minimum area required 400 hectares. * Geographical features of the land shall have tourism potential. * Maximum residential FSI permissible is 0.3. * Only Ground + 1 structure and maximum height of 9 mt. is permissible. * Low density development with maximum open spaces. * Other than residential purpose, different land uses like commercial, public- semi- public, service industries etc. Are permissible. * Infrastructure development should be done by the private developer to make the township self-supported. =e a , ” C Sr Image Courtesy: Google About site of Mulshi Hill Station: The notification said that the land of Saltur, Majgaon, Barpe, Bhambarde, Ekole, Gutke and Adgaon villages were to be included in the proposal. The core village (Gaothan), however, is not to be included.The new hill station will cover 5,952 aeres of land and is situated near both Amby Valley and Lavasa. A single road connects all three hill stations and all the villages whose land is being incorporated are 20 km from Lonavala, 35 km from Paud and 75 km from Pune city. The proposed site is nestled between the hills, with Mulshi Lake on one side and the Konkan on the other side. The area also has dense forests. Telbaila, the famous trekking spot and Sudhagad, the famous fort are on the edges of the site. Conditions for Notified Project in Mulshi: Approval is given by SELAA only for the basic land and infrastructure development and not a blanket clearance for all construction. After completion of basic infrastructure, area’s requirement and load bearing capacity and necessities will be checked and then and then only further permission to develop will be given. Accordingly, the clearance is restricted only to the extent of development of roads and related infrastructure such as __ electricity, telecommunication, transportation, water reservoirs, landfills and so on. ‘The MVVPL will have to approach the authority again with layout plans planning authority to obtain approvals for further construction. ‘The Floor Space Index considerations would be worked out separately based on land uses and approvals from the planning authorities. Exclusion of government forest and Gaothan areas for development of hill station. Deletion of land acquired under Private Forest Land Act. Clearances from Ministry of Environment & Forestry. No-objection from Forest, Irrigation & Industries Departments. No construction permissible on land at a height of over 1,000 meter. ‘Ownership of land has to be shown before taking up project.