Shift Amravati GMC site as proposed land under forest dept, says Khodke

Amravati: Amravati MLA Sulabha Khodke has requested the state govt that the Amravati Govt Medical College site should be shifted from the proposed location at Mauje Aliyabad "which is under the forest department". "No non-forestry activities can be undertaken on the proposed site without prior approval from the Central govt," said Khodke while requesting that an alternative site should be selected for the GMC.Mauje Aliyabad is located 12 km from the city. "The medical college should be established in the central part of the city and in an area linked with all health systems," said Khodke.In a letter recently submitted to CM Devendra Fadnavis on April 30, the MLA pointed out that representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which would be providing financial assistance for constructing the medical college, had visited the Amravati forest department office to conduct an ‘Environment Eco-Safeguard Survey'. "It came to notice that the proposed land falls under the forest department's ‘identified forest' area. The provisions of the ‘Forest (Conservation & Protection) Act, 1980 apply to it," the MLA said.She has also written letters to the state medical education minister Hasan Mushrif and revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule in this regard.Khodke suggested the GMC can be set up at women's hospital and super specialty hospital premises. "The 23 acres available here is in the heart of the city," she said. She also pointed out that 25 acres of the Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth's 75 acres land can be acquired for the project. Other suggestions included 23 acres land adjacent to the city at Mauje Rahatgaon (Survey No. 121) and 25-acre land of Cotton Marketing Federation located in the central part of the city.