District admn to take cognizance of hill cutting, proposes geomapping

The geomapping will help the administration have a clearer picture of the ongoing and completed works.

Construction at NIBM by cutting hills

With the National Green Tribunal directing the Collectorate to take cognizance of hill cutting at various sites, the office of district administration has said that they would take the help of Science and Technology Park and Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre to form a cell and carry out geomapping of these areas.

The geomapping will help the administration have a clearer picture of the ongoing and completed works in all areas. “We are receiving complaints about hill cutting and though action has been initiated at several projects, geomapping will help us get the present status of all the hill tops and hill slopes,’’ said a district official.

The administration will look at the data of the ongoing constructions, completion certificate, maps, NA permissions and others on Geographical Information System, added the official.

Story continues below this ad

Earlier this year in a hearing, the NGT had summoned the collector as well as the commissioner following a complaint filed against them for failing to stop rampant illegal constructions on the hills.

A city-based lawyer had filed a petition against the state secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forest asking for action against the builders.

The Shindewadi incident where a 31-year-old woman and her 14-month-old daughter were washed away in a flash flood was the outcome of the illegal constructions in the area.

The administration had even issued notices to demolish structures and put up notices to stop constructions in the area. The case highlighted the major constructions on the hills in Ambegaon, Lonavala, Talegaon, Daund and Maval.

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories