LAVASA CASE STUDY : A hill city or a controversial city?

Amit Kumar Nayak 20110102 Arun Sharma 20110103

THE CREATORS- HCC & LCL

Hindustan Construction Company Ltd HCC is an integrated group spanning Engineering & Construction, Real Estate, Infrastructure and Urban development & Management. The HCC group of companies comprises HCC Ltd (Engg & Construction), and its subsidiaries HCC Real Estate Ltd, HCC Infrastructure Ltd, Lavasa Corporation Ltd. and Karl Steiner AG, a recent acquisition in Switzerland. It was founded by Industrialist Seth Walchand Hirachand in 1926

AJIT GULABCHAND-PRESENT MD OF HCC & CHAIRMAN OF LCL

ABOUT LAVASA
Lavasa is free India's first hill city being developed by HCC(Hindustan Construction Company). It is a private , planned city being built near Pune.

A 3 hours drive from Mumbai and an hours drive from Pune, the city is a one fourth of the size of Mumbai.
The master plan of Lavasa (25,000 acres/100 km2) is developed by internationally renowned design consultant HOK, USA and is based on the principles of new urbanism that brings together all the components essential to daily life in a more organized manner

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ACCOLAD ES:

LAVASA CITY MODEL!

Continued..
Lavasa city has been designed on the principles of new urbanism, and is said to offer the best-in-class infrastructure, international educational institutions, leading non-polluting industries, exciting avenues of leisure & tourism and homes for comfortable living.

An ecologically sustainable environment will help you live, work, learn and play in harmony with nature at Lavasa. Over 25,000 lakeside apartments and villas with over 50,000 employment opportunities should be available at Lavasa city.
Apart from it's diversity in work possibilities, Lavasa also present some wonderful housing options for permanent residents. Some other famous concepts of hill cities, but all Thursday, 03 May Environmental Management 2012 developed during the British Raj, are Shimla, Kullu and Ooty.

Lavasa City -- A Virtual Tour.flv

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Location
It is located in the picturesque landscape of the Sahayadri Mountains and is set amidst 7 hills and 60 km. of lakefront. The area that is demarcated for Lavasa is located in the Western Ghats of India, on the banks of the Baji Pasalkar Reservoir behind the Warasgaon Dam which is the primary source of water for nearby city of Pune.
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It is spread amidst 100 sq. kms., which is almost 1/4th the size of mumbai. Lavasa is at its magical best during the monsoon season. The rains arrive, bringing with them the promise of months filled with pattering showers, lush green hills with many waterfalls playfully tumbling down them, and days are spent looking out at the rain through a wet window, smiling at a paradise that has been found. The valley is full of extraordinary flora and fauna. Throughout the year, the temperature remains from 4 to 36 degree Celsius.
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Lavasa Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of Hindustan Construction Company Limited (HCC), is developing the project with plush(luxurious) promises of a dream abode. Scheduled to finish by 2021, the first phase, Dasve town, may become operational by mid next year. The companys dreams, however, have become a nightmarish experience for 18 villages from where the land has been acquired to develop Lavasa.These 18 villages, mostly inhabited by tribals, are spread out in the Mulshi and Velhe taluka of Pune district. On speaking to villagers it was found that these villagers were cheated by local agents land records changed, loss of land, bouncing of cheques, threats and living in constant fear.

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Environment Initiatives at Lavasa.flv

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I had over 18 hectares. I sold it to a private agent in 2002 against five cheques totalling Rs 580,000. All of them bounced and I havent received a single penny for my land which is now in the name of the company. I now work as a chowkidar in Pune GYANESHWAR VISHNU SHEDGE, a 60-year-old-villager of Mugaon

V I C T I M S

I have somehow managed to hold onto my 19 hectares. I wont part with it. Some representatives of the company came to survey my land but I took away their survey machinery. I have three daughters and one son to support LEELABAI BHADU MARGALE, a 33-year-old widow of Mugaon

S P E A K

I have about seven hectares, which I refused to sell to local agents. They threatened to get me killed and I had to run away and stay in the forests for six months DAGDU BHAVDANI, a 65-year-old villager of Mugaon

CASE STUDY

Introduction
Lavasa is a new city / hill station coming up near Pune, a city which would primarily be a luxury tourist & education center. The most powerful man in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar & his family were always said to be the benefactors & promoters of Lavasa. Lavasa is a hub for world-class educational institutions, hospitality and training centers, it's an arena for the mind where learning is a way of life. Lavasa offers a refreshing climate with vast open spaces provides innumerable recreation and leisure activities like golf, trekking, rappellingto satiate the adventurer in you.
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SCAM
While there were murmurs of Lavasa wrong doings & local opposition for the past year or so, the project only made prime time news when Narayan Rane, the then state revenue minister opened a can of worms and said that the Maharashtra government was probing irregularities in Lavasa. Lavasa has been asked to provide reasons why the government should not raze all construction after 2006.
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Lavasa has since replied to the notice, saying It was not necessary for our project to get an EC (Environ Clearance) from the MOEF (Ministry of Environment & Forests). Complaints made by the NGOs are baseless.

Accusations Against Lavasa :

Land being acquired by hook or crook.

Inadequate compensation.
State machinery used to coerce farmers No proper plans to rehabilitate the farmers affected Land being acquired at government rates when market rates are much higher Most construction without necessary central govt. environment sanctions State environment sanctions rigged / bought. Fundamental issue of whether the state should have in the first place given out prime & fertile agricultural land to a private corporation

Lavasa allowed to build bunds in the Varasgaon backwaters, jeopardizing Punes water supply Land leased includes land under water. The fact that the water is priceless & critical for the Pune area seems to have been ignored. Lavasa to pull 3 TMC water from Pune. Pune already struggling with water supply

Water resources in the area are inadequate to sustain Punes growth as well as Lavasa.
Protesters say that Lavasa is being projected as a city for all, when in reality its only a luxury destination for the ultra rich. Thursday, 03 May Environmental Management
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Lavasa has been granted permissions in quick time by bending / breaking the law. Land leased for 30 yrs by govt. which in fact will never be returned and is as good as sold Land leased at throw away prices Mega corruption for Lavasa approvals & sanctions All new cities developed in the past were developed by the government, Lavasa is a private enterprise. Many find this improper. Lavasa is essentially a city for the rich. The other

Shortsighted. With dam capacities dropping rapidly due to silting, the water storage will keep dropping while Lavasa consumption will keep rising Lavasa constructions along the backwaters are bad for environment & will also stop actions like raising the dam height in the future

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Development
There is a plan for development

Pune like most Indian cities is being overwhelmed by migrations from other parts of India. Lavasa could take some of the load.
Lavasa could bring in tourists from across the globe, would help the economy of the area Lavasa claims that some 97000 jobs will be generated and that for most jobs, locals would be employed. Lavasa provides an alternative for people to stop crowding a few pockets of Pune city & instead move to a new city Lavasa is expected to attract world class education institutions & technology companies to the area Lavasa has the luxury of a fresh start & can fix the things that have gone wrong in most Indian cities Most of rural India struggles to makes ends meet. It is likely that the local people Thursday, 03 May Environmental Management whose lands were bought by Lavasa & who are employed at Lavasa would be 2012

Acts violated by Lavasa Project (Protection) Act, 1986 Environment

The Indian Forest Act and Amendment, 1984
The Wildlife Protection Act Rules 1931 and Amendment 1991 The Forest (Conservation) Act and Rules, 1981 The River Boards Act, 1956 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
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Legal Actions against violation of these Acts

Penalty or with fine which may extend whosoever person found to be the cause of pollution, may be liable for punishment for a punishment for a term which may extend to five years to one lakh rupees or both(Sec 15, 16, 17). If not comply fine of Rs 5000/day extra, still if not comply for more than one year, then imprisonment may extend up to 7 years.
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Actions
Medha Patkar & her team led by Ms. Suniti have been opposing Lavasa since 2008. However only in the last couple of months has the protest really picked up steam, with many well known activists like Anna Hazare joining in and the Ministry of Environment & Forestry taking a tough stand on Lavasa. Anna Hazare has written a letter to the Chief Minister & another letter to the Prime Minister about the Lavasa matter.

The activists want Lavasa stopped for good. They want the corruption to be investigated and the guilty to be punished severely. They say that whats built illegally should be pulled down.
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Concerns
Many of our top banks are heavily invested in Lavasa.

A section of the protest seems to have no interest in resolving the matter. They just want to finish off Lavasa & proclaim victory. There has always been a criticism of agitations led by Medha Patkar that the focus is on blocking rather than solving. India has a very bad record at bringing the corrupt to book. In all probability the corrupt big fish will again escape. A few small players might get prosecuted.
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Most farmers have no money management or other skills & will end up blowing the sum they get after sale and end up doing menial jobs in Lavasa or in Pune city.

Theres great anger in the people affected.

Laws & Equity have to apply just the same to all. So while you want justice for the landless labourers & small farmers there also has to be justice for the big players who have invested crores into Lavasa.
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Displacement of Villagers
This is not the first time that these villages are getting displaced. In the mid-1970s, the state owned Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation (mkvdc) acquired land from these 18 villages to construct the Warasgaon irrigation-cum-drinking water dam. The dam is built on the Mose river and has its backwater spreading to 18 km. While acquiring land for the dam, some villagers were rehabilitated to nearby tehsil s and some were allotted land upstream of the dam.

Villagers say they have lost land to the project, company terms allegation baseless.

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PRESENT STATUS
The ministry of Environment and Forest accused the LCL for violating The environmental laws and the Environment Impact Assessment Notification (EIA)1994,2004 and 2006. The LCL in reply to this filed in a writ petition in the Mumbai High court Against the ministry of environment and forest. The Honorable High court , on 17th Dec,2010, ordered the ministry to Send a committee to the lavasa site and inspect the site for at least 3 days And then submit a report to the ministry for the final analysis of the project. Till the time the committee does not submit the report, the show cause notice is applicable on the project and the LCL and no further construction can be done before the ministry gives its final verdict over the project.

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The MoEF made a committee of 9 members which included the advisor of the MoEF Mrs. Nalini Bhatt, and the chairman of the committee Mr. Naresh Dayal.

The committee visited the site from 5th-7th January, 2011 and inspected every Construction, every site of the project, assessed the environmental state and Accordingly submitted the report to the MoEF which included a list of damages That the LCL has caused to the environment conditions .
However the chairman of the committee is being criticized for pointing out very Minor issue and damages to the environment. Despite of all these issues , the MoEF is still ready to consider the Thursday, 03 May Environmental Management project on 2012

For the purpose of ensuring immediate and proper compliance with the above, LCL is directed to do the following :

1. Submit the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project. 2. Submit information related to all contracts with various contractors for construction and other works. 3. Submit audited statements for all amounts spent directly or indirectly on the project.

4. Submit information related to all contracts entered into for the purchase/acquisition/lease/transfer of Environmental Management Thursday, 03 May lands.
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Thank You
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