Speculators

The land exchange debate

Opinion, By Anton, Toby, Renu and François Gautier

Land exchange is very much in the news at present, with Auroville land being exchanged for privately-owned land in AuroOrchard and mooted as a possibility in places like Forecomers and Pebble Garden.

What is the Master Plan?

Feature

One of the disagreements concerns The Mother’s approval of the Master Plan. Some people, including the Secretary, believe that Mother’s vision for Auroville is laid down in the Master Plan – one person even stated that she had approved it.

The threats to Auroville’s physical integrity

An interview with Paul Vincent, By Alan

Privately owned hotel in the Greenbelt near Dana community, built without the required permissions

For many years Paul Vincent has been involved with trying to protect the land of Auroville. Here he gives his views on the present situation in which private developments in the Auroville area are mushrooming, and suggests what can be done about it.

Reversing the trend – land fundraising for Auroville

Feature, By Mandakini, Aryadeep and Sigrid

“The procurement of land for Auroville is the most urgent priority in order to ensure the future of the project in its original spirit,” says Sauro Mezzetti, member of the Working Committee and former overall coordinator of L’Avenir d’Auroville.

Acquiring and protecting the lands. The views of the Land Board

Editorial, By Carel

1 Approximate map of Auroville and the surrounding areas. In green are all the lands owned by Auroville. In the inner circle, the city area, most lands are owned by Auroville, but this is not the case in the outer circle, the Greenbelt

When the members of the Land Board took office in January 2014 they met with a dire scenario. Funds to purchase lands were in short supply, the sale of outlying lands was blocked, land encroachment was rampant, land grabs and falsifications of land documents by outsiders were discovered, and legal assistance was insufficiently available.