PUNE, March 28: Congress corporator Sanjay Balgude caused a sensation at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) yesterday when he alleged that a close relative of Chief Minister Manohar Joshi was involved in the dereservation of a prime plot at Erandwane for commercial exploitation.Making the disclosure during the civic general body meeting, Balgude, also the Congress city youth wing chief, said that construction work had already commenced at Erandwane final plot no 110, reserved for a ``primary school'' in the city development plan of 1987.The municipal administration was clearly on the defensive as Municipal Commissioner Ramanath Jha sought time to furnish detailed information regarding the case before the general body even while outrightly denying the dereservation of the plot as alleged by Balgude.While making a reference to the alleged series of dereservations of school lands in Mumbai, involving Raj Dadarkar, that had rocked the ongoing State Assembly session, Balgude alleged that ``similardevelopments'' had been taking place in Pune.He pointed out that the civic administration had earlier denied permission to a prestigious educational institution to open a school on the same plot. He demanded that the administration stop the construction work immediately.Jha intervened at this stage to assure the general body that the administration was competent enough to initiate effective steps to protect the interests of Pune. But Balgude persisted, claiming that his information was authentic as it came from his counterparts in the saffron alliance.On hearing this, Sena corporator Ramesh Bodke launched a counter-offensive against the Congressman. He demanded that further discussion on the subject be curtailed till the municipal administration came out with full details.Speaking to mediapersons, Balgude said that the plot admeasuring 3541 square meters, better known as Kasar chawl, was reserved since 1966. The owner of the plot was Dr Murudkar, who had handed over the ``power of attorney'' to aman named Karandikar.In November 1995, a proposal for dereservation of the plot was forwarded to the State Urban Development department which sought the Pune municipal commissioner's opinion in the case, Balgude said.While the dereservation of the plot at Erandwane was allegedly lifted in September 1996, a proposal for dezoning an agricultural plot admeasuring 2804 square meters at Lohegaon I and II, and converting it into a primary school reservation had already been mooted, Balgude alleged.The municipal administration had also given up on the legal battle in the Bombay High Court with the tenants at Kasar chawl, who were opposed to the acquisition process. The tenants had won the legal battle at the lower court compelling the PMC to approach the High Court, he recalled.Meanwhile, eyebrows were raised in civic circles as to how Balgude could press the controversial issue as an urgent matter in written form when Mayor Vatsala Andekar, of the Pune Vikas Aghadi (PVA), was in the chair. It may benoted here that the PVA has entered into an alliance with the Sena-BJP combine at the PMC.
