New Technology

In a move that will give relief to thousands of tenants residing in centuries-old wadas in the city, the Urban Development Department of the State Government has allowed tenants to carry out the wada repair work at their expense without having to submit a no-objection certificate from the wada owner or any architectural plan of the wada, which had been the pre-requisites till now.

Wada tenants can now forward an application to the ward office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) before the repair work and the permission will be given within 48 hours. However, the tenants are not allowed to make structural changes to the wada.

The decision, that was taken at a meeting here on Saturday, is likely to be implemented on Monday, said BJP MLA Girish Bapat who briefed the reporters on the development. Urban Development Department Principal Secretary T C Benjamin, Divisional Commissioner Dilip Band, civic commissioner Mahesh Zagade, city engineer Prashant Waghmare, Congress MLA Chandrakant Chhajed and Bapat attended the meeting, besides Town Planning officials.

Bapat said, "There are 17 Peth localities in the city, including Kasba Peth, Somwar Peth, Raviwar Peth, Nana Peth and Navi Peth. These Peth areas house about 10,000 wadas. The PMC has carried out a survey of only 1,600 wadas till now and have issued notices to around 750 wada owners about pulling down the dilapidated structures."

He said it was decided at the meeting that if the tenants and occupants of these wadas submit an application to carry out repair work of their place at their own expense, they will be given permission within 48 hours by the civic officials, without having to submit any extra documents. "Less submission of documents will speed up work and save them from turning homeless."

He said the tenants will not be allowed to make any structural changes to the wada or increase the carpet area under this pretext. "This permission will be applicable only for repairs like plastering or raising support to the structures."