State orders draft structure plan for Pune metropolitan region

Pune: The state govt has directed the PMRDA to immediately initiate a process to prepare the draft structure plan for the Pune metropolitan region (PMR).Senior officials of the urban development department said the notification was issued on Feb 10. "Directions were issued in public interest under provisions inserted through Chapter III B of the MRTP Act. The amended law allows six months from the publication of the statutory notice for preparation of the structure plan. Hence, the state has directed PMRDA to take action immediately," they said.
Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) commissioner Yogesh Mhase told TOI on Friday that they would start the initial work soon. "We will complete the structure plan within given time. It will help with the overall planning of the region especially with regard to roads and amenities," he said.The directive was issued under Section 154 of the Maharashtra Regional Planning and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966, following the withdrawal of the earlier draft development plan (DP) and amendments to the law introducing the structure plan mechanism.Urban development officials said the structure plan is envisaged as a document to provide the base framework for all future regional and town-level amenities and major roads. Unlike a DP, it will not include plot-wise reservations or detailed land-use zoning. Instead, it will define the broad spatial structure for infrastructure development, mobility networks and environmental protection.As per Sections 42 H and 42 K of the amended Act, the structure plan will map regional and city-level transport and communication routes, including major road corridors and connectivity networks, for intra-city and inter-city movement. It will lay down the hierarchy and indicative widths of access roads.The plan will further provide a framework for regional amenities and public utility services like water supply, sewage, solid waste management and other key infrastructure. It will identify and safeguard parks and other regional or city-level public amenities, biodiversity parks, hill top and hill slope areas, and other environmentally sensitive zones.The directive followed a long and contentious planning and legal process. PMRDA first declared its intention to prepare a draft DP for the PMR — covering Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and nearly 600 surrounding villages — in June 2017. The draft plan was published for objections and suggestions on Aug 2, 2021, drawing around 67,000 concerns from citizens. In an order on Aug 3, 2021, the Bombay high court restrained the authorities from taking final action on the objections raised. After years of litigation, in Feb 2025, PMRDA resolved to cancel the draft plan and filed an affidavit before the court. On July 15, 2025, the HC dismissed all petitions related to the matter. The state formally withdrew the DP process in Sept 2025.Amendments introducing provisions for preparation of structural plans were notified in the Maharashtra Govt Gazette on Aug 29, 2025. The latest order operationalises these provisions for PMR. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also directed PMRDA to speed up the preparation of the structure plan, keeping in mind the future population growth and urbanisation.Once notified, the structure plan will guide all future planning decisions and major infrastructure projects across PMR, added a PMRDA official.