Pune: Red Zone Map Pending for Ten Months, Creating Confusion Among Residents in PCMC Areas

Pimpri Chinchwad, 7th January 2025: Even though the calculation of the red zone near the jurisdictions of Dehu Road Cantonment Board and Dighi Magazine Depot was completed months ago, the final map is yet to be completed. As these jurisdictions share a border with Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), many people are awaiting a proper decision regarding the red zone. The delay in finalizing the map has created confusion.

The red zone extends for a radius of two thousand yards (1.82 kilometers) from the outer boundary wall of the Ordnance Factory Dehu Road and the Dighi Magazine Depot. Although construction is not allowed in the red zone, unauthorized residential construction has taken place on a large scale. More than three thousand industrial establishments have been operating in the red zone area for the last 40 years. Residents with old, dilapidated houses cannot build new ones.

There was a demand for a census due to confusion among citizens about the boundaries of the red zone. Areas of Dighi, Bhosari, Wadmukhwadi, Talawade, Rupee Nagar, Yamuna Nagar, Nigdi, Ravet, and Kiwale fall within the red zone in PCMC jurisdiction. Army areas are also present in Sangvi, Pimple Gurav, Pimple Nilakh, Pimpri Gaon, Kasarwadi, and Dapodi.

The Ordnance Factory Dehu Road and the Dighi Magazine Depot have declared the Red Zone area, within which no construction can be done. To address the confusion about the boundary, the Red Zone boundary has been recalculated at a cost of Rs. 1.13 crore, with permission from the Department of Defence (DoD). The Land Records Department, in collaboration with the Department of Defence and PCMC, has conducted a survey of the Red Zone.

The survey results are to be converted into a map, which will then be made available to PCMC. The Land Records Department had initially assured PCMC that the final map would be prepared within two months of completing the survey. However, even after ten months, the map has not been prepared. This delay is hampering administrative proceedings in PCMC’s Town Planning, Building Permission, and Taxation and Tax Collection departments.

PCMC does not grant permission for construction in these red zone areas, leading to an increase in unauthorized construction, including multi-storied structures. The Land Records Department fully cooperated in surveying the red zone boundaries, and all boundaries were shown. The delay in finalizing the map has been attributed to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Prasad Gaikwad, Deputy Director of the Town Planning Department, stated that the map is likely to be available within the next fifteen days.