Pune: Housing Society in Kondhwa Seeks Garden Reservation for Amenity Plot; Chairman Alleges Political Pressure

Kondhwa, 6th August 2026: The Shivshankar Girija Co-operative Housing Society in Kondhwa Khurd has urged the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) not to take over its amenity plot until the existing school reservation is legally changed to a garden reservation.

In a letter dated August 2, 2026, addressed to the PMC commissioner and the executive engineer of Building Development Zone 2, society chairman Latif Musa Sayyad alleged that local political figures, with the support of some managing committee members, were exerting sustained pressure on the society to hand over the land.

The letter names society secretary Santosh Talathi and committee members N.S. Ahluwalia and Surinder Singh in connection with the alleged pressure. Sayyad also claimed that certain communications had been sent to municipal and government offices without his knowledge or approval.

The documents supplied do not contain responses from the named committee members, PMC or the Deputy Registrar. The allegations have not been independently verified.

The August 2 representation maintains that the amenity plot remains under the society’s ownership and that no authorised general-body resolution approving its transfer to PMC has been passed.

According to Resolution No. 8, adopted at the society’s Annual General Meeting for 2024-25, the existing school reservation should first be legally converted into a garden reservation. The resolution says that neither the handover of the land nor any claim for Transferable Development Rights (TDR) should be initiated until that process is completed.

It further states that any party offering to undertake the reservation change must submit a written undertaking and enter into a binding legal agreement with the society. If no party is willing or able to do so, the society proposes to initiate the process directly with the competent planning authority.

The society has argued that approximately 78% to 79% of the amenity land is already covered by a Biodiversity Park reservation. It has also claimed that nearly 32 primary schools operate in the Kondhwa-Undri area, reducing the need for another school at the site. On these grounds, it has requested that the plot be reserved and developed as a garden.

A separate representation dated July 25, 2026, signed by a group of members and plot holders, expressed support for Sayyad and opposed a no-confidence motion initiated against him.

The internal dispute forms part of the wider controversy. In letters dated July 14 and July 20, Sayyad asked the Registrar and Commissioner for Cooperation to investigate the handling of his complaints by the Deputy Registrar, Pune City No. 4. The July 20 letter said a no-confidence meeting had been scheduled for August 3, 2026. The documents supplied do not disclose the outcome of that meeting.

Copies of the latest representation were sent to municipal, cooperation, urban-development, biodiversity and forest authorities, as well as environmental organisations. The society has sought scrutiny of any proposed transfer and warned that it may pursue legal remedies if action is taken without due process.

Fact-check note: PMC’s published development regulations define amenity space as statutory land in a layout that may be used for purposes including parks, gardens, playgrounds and schools. Section 72 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act places a society’s final authority in its general body, subject to the Act, rules and bye-laws. These general provisions do not independently establish the ownership or planning status of this particular plot.