Lavasa is a 1st planned hill station in India after independence. It is situated in the western ghat of Maharashtra in the Mulshi area. It’s near Pune.
Its structure is inspired by Portofino town, which is in Italy. Lavasa is planned to construct on 25,000 acres area. HCC is main developer of the project. Construction of the project started around 2002 but the project is unable to complete yet because of multiple reasons.
How Lavasa Started?
Ajit Gulabchand managing director of Hindustan construction company (HCC), was the man behind the vision of Lavasa city. He wished to develop an Italian town near Pune in Mulshi Valley. Mulshi valley is itself very beautiful. It comes under the western ghat area which is the UNESCO world heritage site.
Initially, Lavasa proposed to construct in 100 SqKm (25,000 acres) area. The project was divided into 5 towns. Out of which 2 towns construction was started. Major parts of 2 towns are constructed. Hotels, school, Lake area is complete now. But construction is stopped since 2011. Currently, about 8000 acres out of 25,000 acres of land are developed.
Keypoints
- Total Area- 100 SqKm (25,000 acres)
- Architecture- Portofino city, Italy.
- Total Units- 5 towns
- Current Construction- 2 Towns (8000 acres)
- Status- Construction is on hold.
- Location- Mulshi valley, Maharashtra, India.
- Construction- started around the year 2002, Stopped around 2011.
- Developer- Hindustan Construction Company
Reason for failures
As mentioned above Lavasa work started in 2002 and stopped around 2011. It’s hardly possible that construction will start. HCC is also about to bankrupt. Many building works are left incomplete. 2 ongoing town is also not yet completed. This is the reason Lavasa is a failed city.
There are many reasons for the failure of Lavasa. These reasons are as mentioned below-
- Natural Damage- Lavasa’s location is Mulshi valley. It’s a great green area. Many rare and unique animal and tree species live in the western ghat. Hill cutting for construction hurt the life of the valley. Diversion of water for the city’s use causes the shortage to Pune city. This is the reason the Environment and forest department had involved in the project and stopped the construction
- Land Acquisition Problems- Many local villagers blame HCC and Lavasa that the company didn’t pay the actual amount of land. Many villagers said that land is acquired under political pressure. This causes chaos in the local people and it is one of the reasons that the project is stopped. Though Lavasa authority denies these blames.
- Legal Problems- Initially Lavasa didn’t really care about taking all the legal permission for respective authorities. Only 3-floor construction is allowed in hill projects, but Lavasa has about 6 stories building too. Lavasa authority acquired land and started construction instantly. This casualty hurt the project most. Because of this reason, Forest and environment department stopped the construction for more than 3 years. These years were very important for the project. The project was held from 2011 to 2013 because of this.
- Political involvement-It is well known that there was political involvement in the Lavasa Project. Might because of political support Lavasa doesn’t care about the local authority permissions and started work. Many claims are about the illegal investment of politicians and banks also caused problems for the project. This approach to the work hampered the project. This all blames denied by Lavasa authority.
These are the main Reason that Lavasa is a failure and It becomes a Nightmare for the Investors.
