Environmentalists say PMC plan to create channels on both sides of Dev Nadi may destroy river by reducing it to drain
Environmentalists say PMC plan to create channels on both sides of Dev Nadi may destroy river by reducing it to drain
If the civic body continues with its work of channelising the entire stretch of Dev Nadi in Baner, then the river will soon vanish, warn environmentalists. Channelising means that the naturally undulating rivulet would be converted into a drain, and filled with pipes, with a road above it, at stretches.
|
| PMC at work: A cement channel under construction on Dev Nadi in Baner |
Channelising can also cause flash floods during the monsoon, say environmentalists.
With JNNURM funding of Rs 100 crore, the PMC has already started constructing cement channels for the 5 km stretch of the river and shrunk the river basin of Dev Nadi from 60m to just 1m.
Sunil Joshi, the local organiser of Jal Biradari, said that it was a new "legal way" of land grabbing of river basin and Dev Nadi is the best example of it. He said the PMC is doing this in the name of development. "Pune is a safe place for the real estate as they get better infrastructural development and Dev Nadi area is no exception," he pointed out. "We had given time to the PMC Commissioner Mahesh Zagade to stop the channelising work on Dev Nadi till March 22, the World Water Day."u00a0
Anupam Saraf, IT and management expert and an environmentalist said: "Dev Nadi or other rivers in the city are our lifeline to water and channelisation and building concrete walls will destroy the city's ability to support growth and dramatically increase the risk of flooding and destruction."
Other local residents at Baner including Shashank Jagirdar, Mahesh Shukla, Prasad Ranekar and Deepak Nagar also protested against the PMC for constructing cement channels.
