Last Updated: 12.05.24

The ESZ Notification Of 2001 Directs The Government Of Maharashtra To Prepare A Sub Zonal Master Plan (SZMP) For The Region Outside The Municipal Limits Of Mahableshwar And Panchgani. As The Mahabaleshwar And Panchgani Regional Plan (1984-2001), Sanctioned In 1985, Then In Effect, Was Already Being Revised As Per The Provisions Of The Maharashtra Regional And Town Planning Act, 1966 (MRTP Act) Which Requires Plans To Be Renewed Every 20 Years, The Government Of Maharashtra Simply Continued With The Ongoing Revision Process, While Ensuring That It Met The Requirements Of The ESZ Notification.

In Order To Formulate The Regional Plan/SZMP, The Government Of Maharashtra, In 2002, Constituted A Regional Planning Board As Per The Provisions Of The Maharashtra Regional And Town Planning Act, 1966 (MRTP Act), And Tasked It With The Responsibility Of Preparing And Submitting The Mandatory Rural Land Use Plan And The Development Control Regulations (DCRs).
The Regional Planning Board Set Up Sub-Committees To Carry Out Surveys And Prepare Reports That Would Be Used To Formulate The Regional Plan/SZMP And Make Recommendations.
In January 2002, The Regional Planning Board Held A Meeting With The High-Level Monitoring Committee, Then Under The Chairmanship Of Shri. Jamsheed Kanga, Which Led To The Constitution Of Four Special Sub-Committees — Land Use , Environment , Tourism And Technical. BEAG Was A Member Of Two Of The Regional Planning Board Sub-Committees: The Land Use Sub-Committee And The Environmental Sub-Committee.

After A Great Deal Of Effort By BEAG, The Extensive And Exhaustive List Of The Land Use Principles And DCRs Were Accepted By The Regional Planning Board. However, They Were Not Fully Incorporated Into The Draft Regional Plan/SZMP That Was Notified In 2005 For Public Suggestion.

Through The Various Provisions Of MRTP Act, 1966, BEAG Continued To Make Representations Before Various Authorities To Ensure That The Provisions Of The Final Regional Plan/SZMP Were In Consonance With The ESZ Notification. For Example, BEAG Ensured That The Definition Of Parks In The Final Regional Plan/SZMP Did Not Include Amusement And Water Parks; Conservation Zones Included Origins Of Waterfalls; Various Agro-Based Industries In The Green Zone Were Granted Permission To Function; DCRs Were Followed For Bed-And-Breakfast Schemes; And Surveyed Vansadrushya (Deemed Forest) Areas Were Included In The Zonal Master Plan.

BEAG Was Also Actively Involved With The HLMC Under The Chairmanship Of Shri Dev Mehta And Was Instrumental In Ensuring That The Regional Plan/SZMP Submitted For Approvalto The Ministry Of Environment, Forest And Climate Change Was In Compliance With The ESZ Notification.

The Final Regional Plan/SZMPfor The ESZ Was Published By The Government Of Maharashtra On August 7, 2015.
However, The Document Published In 2015 Was Essentially The 2005 Draft SZMP/Regional Plan As A 30-Page List Of The Modifications And Amendments Made Between 2007 And 2011 To The 2005 Draft First By The Government Of Maharashtra Under The MRTP Act And Later By The Ministry Of Environment, Forest And Climate Change.

BEAG continued to follow up with the state government to ensure that the Final Regional Plan/SZMP Report and DCRs incorporated all the modifications within the body of the document. A 30-page list of modifications would be hard for anyone to follow.
In fact, BEAG spent weeks laboriously going over each modification in the 30-page list of modifications and inserting each one into the appropriate section and clause of the 350-page Final Regional Plan/SZMP document. It submitted this consolidated document to the Government of Maharashtra in 2015.
BEAG Then Continued To Follow Up With The State Government And The HLMC To Publish The Consolidated Document.
In 2020, The Government Of Maharashtra Finally Published The Consolidated Document As The Final Regional Plan/SZMP On Its Website For Public Access.