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Magarpatta: A dream city

January 24, 2009

We heard that you presented a paper on Magarpatta in Sydney. Tell us about that.

There was a World City Congress at Sydney. They had visited 104 cities worldwide. Since Pune is one of those 104 cities they visited us also.

They wanted a presentation on sustainable sources. How garbage is disposed and how we make the city eco-friendly. Here the dependence on the Municipal Corporation is nil. We manage our own water supply, drainage and garbage disposal.

Here we walk to work, walk to school and walk to shop. So we have low traffic and less pollution. We don't even need public transport. That's why they wanted this model to be presented.

Why did you join hands with other farmers for Nanded city?

Land acquisition is a problem when you go for large projects. So we made the land stake holders also partners in that development.

Anything else you would like to tell us.

I am not an engineer. So I have the freedom to dream big. There is no technical rule hindering my imagination. In today's world we must think of security above every thing else. We are no longer as safe as we would want to be.

We must also be community conscious. We must segregate garbage at the source and not wait for the Municipal Corporation. We can use that to generate energy. Being environment friendly, we also generate solar energy here. We must not depend on the government for everything.

We get nine months of bright sun light. We must utilise that. Recycled garbage saves water and energy. Both can be used elsewhere for development. Recycled garbage used as manure leads to increased greenery which benefits the environment.

This is a large community and to promote social interaction we created a council. There is one member for every 100 units. There are 75 members. They run the library, and arrange sporting and cultural events.

We gave land to the electricity board to set up a sub station here. Thus voltage is good in Magarpatta and Hadapsar. We built a road parallel to Magarpatta from Pune to Solapur. The cost will be set off against corporation tax.

We also get ten per cent rebate on property tax because of the environmentally friendly measures we have adopted.

Image: Hospital room in Magarpatta

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