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Barely 30 km from the hustle-bustle of Pune is this haven called
Mulshi. This scenic village has suddenly come under the limelight -
courtesy star farmers like Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. Mulshi
is a painters' delight, carpeted with lush green grass, mountains
covered with floral trees and a view of the Pavana dam. The village
offers a perfect weekend getaway from Pune and Mumbai. Little
wonder then that Bachchan and Aamir have already purchased land
here.
According to dealers, other stars like Irrfan Khan, Jackie
Shroff and Nagrajuna have also been to the area.
But not everybody thinks the development is hunky-dory. While it is
lucrative and tempting to deal with the moneyed film stars and
their representatives, all real estate dealers in Pune do not want
to enter into deals relating to buying and selling of farmland.
According to the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948,
no person can purchase agricultural land in Maharashtra if he is
not a farmer. It is alleged that Bachchan and Aamir purchased
agricultural land by showing themselves as farmers in their native
state of Uttar Pradesh.
According to Ram, a property dealer in Pune, one needs to have good
contacts with the local politicians to transfer land titles and
other required documents in the name of the buyer. He says, "small
farmers are threatened and their land is taken away".
Popularity of the area has grown manifold over the years. Land
prices are mostly location-based, ranging from Rs.1.5 million to
1.8 million an acre. Farmland near the main road is more expensive
than the interior one.
The prices have gone up by up to 300 percent in the last three to
four years. Property dealers claim the prices will climb even
further.
According to these dealers, the registration office of the area at
Paud has started getting a lot of enquiries from members of the
cine world.
Though land records in Maharashtra have been computerized to a
great extent, it is still difficult to get details as to which
celebrities have bought land in this village with pristine beauty.
Also, situated in the area is an educational institute run by
Messrs. Mahindra and Mahindra and an international school called
Riverdale convent. According to sources, Modern college of Pune is
also planning to set up a campus here.
Nilesh Bachewar, another real estate agent of the area ,says with
Pune turning into a concrete jungle, "the demand is so high that
the locals in Mulshi have very little land left for themselves."
According to conservative estimates, the residents of the area are
now holding just about 20 to 25 percent of the land, and the rest
has been completely sold out.
Now, the nearby villages, too, are witnessing a change. Market
prices for farming land in Kolvan village, about five km from
Mulshi, have also risen considerably.
Mulshi falls to the west of Pune in the Sahyadri hills. The area
receives heavy rainfall and sag, teak, oak and mango trees are
found in the forests. The fauna includes rabbits, deer, wolves,
foxes and even tigers and leopards.
There are also peacocks, bulbuls, parrots and other species of bird
life. A rice crop named Kamod is grown here on a large scale.
Mulshi is an attractive destination as it is also close to Lonavla
and the Konkan region. The Mulshi lake is also just five to six km
away.
It would be a pity if such a beautiful and scenic place loses its
natural beauty. But with the entry of outsiders, will this beauty
last for long?
By V. Vijayalakshmi
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