The court directed a survey of properties at the earliest, saying that the issue was not confined to unauthorised construction, and involved unauthorised occupation and use of defence land as well. (File photo)The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has begun a survey to identify illegal properties in the restricted zone around defence establishments in the city, following a Bombay High Court order that sought a report on the matter.On March 27, the Bombay High Court had stated that before demolishing or removing any such unauthorised construction, “a thorough survey” was required. The court directed a survey of properties at the earliest, saying that the issue was not confined to unauthorised construction, and involved unauthorised occupation and use of defence land as well.Accordingly, the PMC, “considering urgency as the report has to be submitted to court soon”, has entrusted the task to a private agency, Monarch Surveyor and Engineering Consultants Pvt Ltd, at an expense of Rs 1.69 crore.Initially, the survey will look at current land use in Lohegaon, Dhanori, Kharadi, Vadgaonsheri and Kalas. Later, it will include properties around the Southern Command, BEG, Pune Airport, AFMC, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory in Kirkee and Sutarwadi, Armament Research and Development Establishment in Pashan, and National Defence Academy.The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation had carried out a similar survey of properties by integrating drone survey mapping and property tax records, and the PMC is expected to follow along the same lines. Apart from the drone survey, site visits will also be held, with GIS mapping in three months.“The site visit will include information like the number of floors of the property, the type of use before and after declaring it as a restricted area, etc.,” a senior PMC officer said.While the information on existing land use has been collected by the state land records department, the PMC-appointed agency will collect details of the structure and whether it is authorised or unauthorised.Story continues below this adIn its order, the Bombay High Court has said, “Once the survey is completed, so far as removal of unauthorised encroachments is concerned, all authorities concerned should immediately take steps for removal of unauthorised encroachments.”“Non-submission of survey reports on or before the next day of hearing will be treated as contempt of orders of the court,” the court had added.Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read MoreClick here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:pune