Four MHADA flats in Pune's Balewadi cut off for a year as society blocks access road

Four flats in a building next to the '43 Private Drive' multi-storey project in Balewadi, Pune, belong to MHADA. The joy of those who won them in the September 2025 Pune MHADA lottery was short-lived, as the shared road leading to the homes was closed. More than a year on, they have still not been able to move in.

'43 Private Drive' was built by S.S. Properties and has four to five wings. A commercial building has also come up next to the project over the past year. The four MHADA flats are meant for the economically weaker section and stand in a separate building behind the commercial (IT) building. The society has closed the road leading to them.

According to Raviraj Kale, state president of the youth wing of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the developer had cited the development plan when the project was sanctioned. He said the developer had claimed the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) would build a road alongside the existing residential building, which would later serve as the approach to the MHADA building. Kale said three to four years have passed since the sanction and a year since the completion certificate was issued, yet no road has been built on the ground. He said it is MHADA's responsibility to check whether an access road exists, but the developer handed over the flats without verification and MHADA accepted them.

A housing society has been formed for another residential building in the same complex. The society says this is its internal road and that residents of the MHADA building have no right to it, so it put up a wall. The road is now locked, and has large potholes and overgrown bushes. For the past six months the beneficiaries have repeatedly gone to developer Bhandari, PMC's building department and the MHADA office, but it is alleged that each is passing the responsibility to the others. Kale also alleged that the other agencies are saying openly, "We gave you the flats, now you take it from here."

Developer Sachin Bhandari said a separate building with four flats stands on the 7.5-acre plot and the layout provides only one shared access road. According to him, the MHADA order and the deemed conveyance order also mention buildings A, B, C and D and the MHADA building, meaning all are part of one layout. Bhandari said, "We have built strictly according to the rules. It is not right for the society to create obstacles for MHADA residents. Action will be taken against the society in this matter. We have also filed a complaint with the PMC."

Moreshwar Balwadkar, chairman of the '43 Private Drive' society, said that while the MHADA building was being built, neither the builder nor anyone else told him about a proposed road. He denied that the beneficiaries were being blocked deliberately. He said it is wrong to seek access through the side margin of another building. Balwadkar said, "The nine-metre-wide road proposed in the development plan should be completed by the PMC. Only about 50 feet of work remains, and the PMC should give it priority."

Kale has submitted his demands to PMC's building department. They include immediately registering criminal cases against developer Bhandari under applicable sections, including cheating; cancelling the licence of the architect concerned on the charge of submitting false documents; a full inquiry into the completion certificate and the acceptance of the MHADA flats, with action against officials found guilty; and immediately opening the road shown at the time of sanction. AAP has warned of an intense agitation if this is not done. Despite inspecting the site, the PMC has so far done only paperwork.