As chairman of the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation, Mr. Pawar had given 141.15 hectares from the Valley land to Lavasa on a 30-year lease, allegedly without government permission.
Asked whether he would re-think this decision, Mr. Pawar said: “Lavasa will have to pay the price for not abiding by the rules.” The former Revenue Minister, Narayan Rane, has said any irregularity in the project would be set right by compounding it.
“As the Deputy Chief Minister, I would like to say that any project that harms the environment or the people should not be allowed,” Mr. Pawar said.
However, when asked whether he thought the project should be demolished, as the show cause notice threatens to do so, Mr. Pawar said: “A project like Lavasa cannot be compared with slums, and you cannot raze it before finding alternative solutions. If by removing the irregularities, no one is suffering, it should be okay.