Everything you wanted to know about draft DP but...

PUNE: Architects, engineers and surveyors' association (AESA), a city-based voluntary organisation, has started sensitising the public to the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) controversial draft development plan (DP) for the fringe villages, by offering a free interpreter service. AESA launched the service on Monday at its technical counsellor centre (TECC) at the Yadav commercial building, F.C.road (Phone: 5531592). "If people do not respond to the present DP within two months, it will be deemed as okayed and there will be no hearing for 20 years as the next revision of the DP will be done only after 20 years. So we want the public to get a clear picture as to what they are getting through the DP," AESA chairman Shirish Kembhavi told TNN on Thursday. The interpreter service will ensure that citizens are well-informed before responding to the DP, he added. The association has also set up seven sub-groups to discuss the pros and cons of the DP. "The sub-groups will discuss road networks and transportation issues, open spaces and environmental issues, services and drainage and water supply bottlenecks, land use and zoning, amenities and reservations, policies and by-laws and finally the implementation strategy and financial policies of the PMC with respect to the DP," Kembhavi said. The AESA chairman further said that with the rapid development of Pune, environmental issues are going to play a crucial role. "Our recommendation to the PMC to promote the concept of small flats of one bedroom-hall-kitchens for those who cannot afford larger flats has been accepted and included in the proposed DP," AESA executive committee member Rajiv Raje said.