PMC flouts court order

In spite of HC directive to stop constructions on all riverbeds, civic body found defying order at Dev Nadi

Residents of Baner and the nearby Sutarwadi area have raised concerns over the ongoing work near Rohan Leher Housing Society and Anjor Apartment, which is being carried out by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) under the JNNURM scheme. The PMC contractors had summoned two JCB machines to remove the soil near Dev Nadi and construct a road there.


Stop it: The work underway at Dev Nadi, which the high court yesterday
ordered stopped

Vijay Paranjpe, an environmentalist, has objected to the channelising of Dev Nadi, stating it was destroying the natural path of the river. He also objected to the use of pipeline to flush out the river water. All this, even after the high court had passed an order on May 5, stating that no construction should be carried out on riverbeds.

As they felt this order wasu00a0 being violated, activists from Jalbiradari and some residents from Baner went to the court against the PMC and requested the Bombay High Court to stop the work with immediate effect. Justice Rekhaprakash Soandur Baldota has given orders to the PMC to stop any work being done at Dev Nadi with immediate effect.

Dev Nadi is an official river registered in the British Gazette. It starts from the Sus Village hilly area and meets Mula in the city. The river is full for almost nine months in the year. Residents claim that construction and cement work would dry up the river.

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. "The PMC is stealing our Dev Nadi," said Kashiram Jadhav, resident at Sutarwadi.u00a0

This is to favour the big builders so that they can promote their ambitious housing schemes, eventually, destroying the natural flow of the river." The PMC has already constructed cement boundaries on both sides of the river.

Mahesh Zagade, former municipal commissioner, said his work would flush out the storm water easily and there would be no fear of storm-like situation. Mahesh Pathak, the municipal commissioner, visited the site to check on the progress of the work.

The Other Side
"The work has been going for the last couple of days and it shall be stopped immediately as per the court order," said Shivaji Sankpal, executive engineer, JNNURM Department, PMC. "We had to construct on the riverbed because the water in the river was creating health hazards in the area. We had diverted the water via a pipeline under the road. We are replying to the petitioner by sending an official letter."