Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The much-discussed road from Champa Chowk to Jalna Road in the old city, which was originally 100 feet wide, has surprisingly been reduced to just 60 feet in the new development plan. What’s more, the municipal corporation had earlier granted TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) to several property owners based on the 100-foot width in the old development plan. Angry citizens are now coming to the municipal corporation’s Town Planning (TP) section to demand answers.
The road from the Panchayat Samiti office to Champa Chowk, which is just a stone’s throw away from the District Collector’s office, is 100 feet wide. However, beyond that point, the road narrows significantly. According to the old development plan, this road was never fully widened to 100 feet. Over the past 20 years, the Municipal Corporation has made several attempts to widen the road to 100 feet. In areas like Kailasnagar and Dada Colony, citizens’ homes are located directly on the road alignment. Nearly 600 to 700 houses would need to be demolished for the road to be completed. The question arose—why should so many houses be demolished? As a result, former municipal commissioners backed away from the plan. Administrator G Sreekanth resumed efforts to construct the road. Payment was even made to the Land Record Office for a joint survey. In the newly prepared development plan, this road was indeed marked as 100 feet wide.
Changes in the Development Plan
After the draft of the new development plan was sent to the government for final approval, significant changes were made at the government level. In these revisions, most of the stretch from Champa Chowk to Jalna Road was reduced from 100 feet to just 60 feet. The road from the Jinsi Municipal Primary Health Centre to the Raymond showroom on Jalna Road has been marked as 60 feet wide. However, the section from Champa Chowk to Jinsi Chowk has been retained at 100 feet.
TDR issued by CSMC
The Municipal Corporation had granted TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) to several property owners on this road as per the old development plan. Many citizens handed over their properties to the corporation. Now, the big question is—what will the Municipal Corporation do with this additional land?
‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’
Some citizens still support the idea of keeping the Champa Chowk to Jalna Road stretch 100 feet wide. For those whose properties were affected under the 100-foot plan, this change to 60 feet comes as a relief. They are in favour of retaining the reduced width.
Changes may be reversed
The changes made by the government in the new development plan have been placed for public hearing. According to Deputy Director of Town Planning, Manoj Garje, these changes could still be revised in the future.