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| Willgard Krause/Pixabay |
In the heart of the picturesque Western Ghats just 55 kilometres from Pune, the Lavasa township is India’s one and only private hill station. A pristine and well-planned township amid the monsoon greenery of the Ghats – it's a dream location with all the right boxes checked but on closer inspection, Lavasa is missing a critical component for success – people.
With development and community building stalled for years, residents
of Lavasa are now awaiting a decision that could make or break the hill
township and their own futures. Two companies have finally submitted revival bids for
the project before the resurrection deadline ends in October 2021. FYI, the pretty
hill city has been waiting for such suitable revival bids for the last three
years.
Backstory
On the drawing board since the year 2000, the Lavasa township
was planned across 25,000 acres spanning 18 villages of Mulshi Taluka in the
Pune region, Maharashtra. Projected as India’s first privately owned hill city,
it gathered a lot of interest and investment from people who wanted to call
such a place home.
But as the years went by, the project faced numerous land usurping
cases from the villagers who were never paid plus the hill city was also found to be violating crucial environmental
norms. These headwinds finally took a toll and the project ran out of gas, eventually
transforming into the ghost town that it is today.
In May 2021, Lavasa residents had approached the Maharashtra
chief minister with an SOS, mentioning that it had been almost 3 years since
Lavasa approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), but no fruitful
takeover plan for the city had came forth yet.
Tunnel, Light, et al
Mumbai-based Darwin Group of companies and Delhi-based Dhir
and Dhir Associates - the two firms that have submitted revival bids for Lavasa
are now the residents’ last hope. If this revival attempt fails, liquidation
remains the only option, meaning that it’s curtains for the hill station and
its folks.
“We are hoping for a positive resolution as failure would lead to liquidation, which would be detrimental to the interests of all”, a resident of Lavasa quoted to the press.